Life with Paul
by bsloths
Summary: Sequel to Paul's Case Files. Paul sees the Dasey. But what can he do about it? Get Derek and Casey together, that's what. Paul-centric multichapter.
1. The Big Breakup

Hi everyone! This is the sequel to Paul's Case Files…and it's in-progress! I'll probably add chapters periodically, though it'll be more like a series of oneshots instead of a chapter fic (another one is coming soon, I swear!). This installment is set around TTGBITN, and contains spoilers for that episode.

Enjoy! And review if you want to, you know how happy it makes me!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: Paul still has not come to his senses and left Alicia for me. But he lets me borrow him, and when I'm done writing, off he goes back to Canada. To LwD World, which I also do not own.

**Life with Paul: The Big Breakup**

"She broke up with him!" Paul crowed as he entered his house after school.

Alicia, who had gotten off work early that day, was busy reorganizing the spice rack. She ran over to greet him, and he grabbed her hands, twirling her around the kitchen.

Kissing her quickly, Paul reached up to take down the top row of spices, knowing she couldn't reach it herself without the aid of a stool.

He handed her the containers as he removed them, humming gleefully. Alicia shoved him playfully. "Alright, you're obviously not going to tell me, so I'd better ask—are you talking about Stacey and Dax?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Paul grinned, kissing her again. "It took all of my self-restraint to keep from cheering when I heard the news!"

Paul had decided to give his students codenames, because he couldn't help but tell Alicia about them. So instead of constantly referring to Casey as "that girl," he figured it would be easier if she had a name. 

"So, do you think Eric will ask her out now that she's single?" Alicia asked, intrigued. 

"I wish. It's going to take a lot of persuasion. The boy needs some serious help."

"Well, I know the perfect counselor to guide him in the right direction," Alicia said, wrapping her arms around Paul's waist. She reached over and switched on the stereo, and their favorite soft rock station enveloped the kitchen.

"Do you now?" Paul cooed in her ear, as they began to sway back and forth. He waltzed her around the kitchen, feeling downright giddy. 

They were in the middle of the dip-and-kiss move when Alex barreled through the door, followed by three of his friends.

"Eww," they chorused, and Alex looked horrified.

"Guyyys," he whined in embarrassment. "You need to go do that somewhere else, please."

"Oh, is that so?" Paul shot back, pulling away from his wife and ruffling his son's hair, knowing it would irk him.

"Da-ad!" Alex reprimanded through gritted teeth.

"All right, come on, hon, we'll leave the boys alone," Alicia instructed, pulling Paul out of the kitchen.

"Bolus for what you eat in there!" Paul called to Alex, who shouted back impatiently that he would.

Alicia continued to pull Paul through the house, stopping in the family room. She curled up on the sofa, mischievous glint in her eyes. He sat down next to her, and propped his feet on the ottoman. 

"Now, tell me about this big breakup." Alicia cuddled up next to Paul, sighing contentedly against him, and he began.

"I guess the beginning of the end was when Stacey tried out for cheerleading…"

_This is better than cable_, Alicia thought.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

He slammed the door shut with a huff, and plopped down in a chair. Paul looked up in surprise. A piece of the sandwich he had been chewing fell out of his mouth when he saw who had entered his office. 

Quickly wiping his mouth, he greeted Derek. "What a surprise, Mr. Venturi. Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hi Paul." Derek avoided eye contact, and Paul knew it was going to be a difficult session. He had only seen Derek a few times, and each time he did, Derek left frustrated. Paul decided he would get through to him this time if it killed him.

"I'm sure Casey told you the news." 

"The news…" Paul feigned innocence. 

Derek smirked. "We could sit here playing games, or you could tell me what I know you already know."

"How do you know I know what you think I know?" Paul said it again in his head, making sure it made sense.

"I know because you always know everything there is to know about a certain someone we both know," Derek shot back, and Paul had to hand it to him, the kid was good.

"Okay, okay. Truce. Yes, Casey told me about her breakup." 

"With the 'sweetest, most popular guy in school'?" Derek mimicked Casey's sentiment in a high-pitched voice. _Pretty good impression of her_, Paul thought. 

"Something tells me you're glad they broke up." _Hmm, wonder why that could be._

"Max was a loser, Paul. Casey deserves better." Derek paled as soon as he said it. He knew what Paul was going to say next; he had walked right into that one.

"Oh, really? Who do you think would be better for Casey?" Paul was cheering on the inside._ Just say "me," Derek, just say it._

"Anyone but Max. But that's not the point," Derek replied, effectively avoiding the dangerous territory into which that topic was going.

"And what is the point of this? Why are you here?" _To talk about how to win Casey over, right?_

Derek shifted in his seat, careful that his face didn't betray his discomfort, though his body language did. Paul had been trained to look for that kind of thing.

"Casey and I snuck out together last weekend." Paul's eyes grew wide.

"Casey mentioned you'd been grounded…" Paul trailed off, realizing he probably shouldn't be telling Derek what he talked about with Casey.

"She didn't tell you what happened?" Derek asked, surprised. 

Paul shook his head. She really hadn't. He knew it had something to do with Derek; it always did. But she had refused to share the details this time.

Derek continued, "She wanted to go to this party because this popular guy—" He cut himself off when he realized how jealous he sounded. "Uh, we were both going to this party, and we'd been grounded, so the only option was to sneak out. So we did, except…" Derek was seriously regretting coming in here at this point, but for some reason he trusted Paul, so he barged on. "I accidentally hit my dad's car on the way out, and Casey ended up not going. Long story short, our parents found out and now we're grounded _again_." 

Paul stifled his laughter. "You hit your dad's car? Why? Were you distracted by something?" _Like Casey, probably all dolled up for this party?_

"Casey was going on and on about cucumber sandwiches and our secret plan to sneak out…" _Aha._ _Of course it was Casey's fault._

"You sure it wasn't Casey's blue eye shadow that did it?" Paul asked boldly. 

"Her what now?" Derek asked, looking at Paul in disbelief.

"You know, the eye shadow she wears when she's trying to impress…a guy," Paul replied matter-of-factly. 

Derek was getting very, very uncomfortable. "She was shoving a list and sandwiches in my face, I'm telling you." 

"I'm sure she was." Paul said this in such a way that Derek really couldn't tell if he believed him or not. 

"But," Paul went on, "This is still not explaining why you're here, talking about Casey sneaking out with you."

Derek didn't say anything; instead, he looked at the floor. 

"You had fun doing that, didn't you?" Paul asked quietly. "I'll bet it gave you a rush that you got goody-two-shoes Casey to sneak out. With you."

Derek looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, it did."

"Don't tell her I called her that," Paul said quickly as an afterthought. 

Derek chuckled. "No worries. It _was_…fun. And we had to run back into the house just as Dad was coming in, and we hid under the table—"

Paul's eyebrows shot up, and this didn't escape Derek. "Look, Paul, if you want to say something to me, say it!" he cried, definitely getting frustrated. He had no idea how Casey could stand to talk to this guy every week if he made her feel like this. 

Paul sighed. Here was his chance to lay it all on the line. So he took it.

"I think this whole story is your way of telling me that you actually like spending time with her. I think it scares you that you two are becoming friends. And if you're friends, she's going to see you in a new way. She might even see through that phony act of yours." 

"Phony act?" Derek was startled. _How did he know so much?_

"The act you put on for everyone. The act that says Casey annoys the heck out of you, and that you can't stand her. Because I know the truth, Derek." Paul's voice had risen steadily as he spoke, and provoked Derek in exactly the way he had hoped.

Derek stood up quickly and stumbled, catching himself on the edge of Paul's desk. He bent down over the desk, where Paul was sitting calmly with his hands folded. He seethed, "And what is the truth?"

Paul stared him down, but Derek's eyes never left his. "You. Love. Her." 

Derek tore his eyes away from Paul's and backed away slowly. At the door, he paused to look at a grinning Paul again. This only made him angrier. "You're wrong!" And he stormed out of the office, slamming the door closed after him. 

Paul began to laugh. And laugh. He laughed until he couldn't breathe. That had been the exact reaction he'd hoped to see from the poor guy. Derek needed to see that he wasn't fooling everyone. And Paul could tell when people were lying; the last thing Derek had said to him was a definite lie. And he was sure that Derek knew that he knew it. 


	2. The New Girlfriend

Here's the thing: I can't seem to sit and write chapters. It's a time commitment that I really don't have right now, and I did start writing a new chapter story, but the inspiration just isn't coming. Though I _am_ enjoying writing these Paul stories, and it seems like you guys like them, too. So I think I'm just going to keep writing Life with Paul (and any oneshots that pop into my head, of course!) and forget the other chapter fic for awhile, until I have the time I need to devote to it. That way, I can update this more often. Sound good?

Thanks for sticking with me!

Oh, and I guess I should mention that this contains a spoiler from Derek's School of Dating. :)

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I think I'm going to aim higher this time and try to get my hands on Shaftesbury. They're the people that have the most say in LwD World, don't they? I'll write a nice letter to their offices requesting the rights to Life with Derek, and then they can transfer them to me legally. But for now, nothing is mine.

**Life with Paul: The New Girlfriend **

Paul sat cross-legged on his couch, scribbling the latest news into his Case Files.

_**So Derek is dating this girl named Sally. Apparently **__**Casey**__** got them together. Not good. Not good at all.**_

He tapped the pen against his bottom lip as he thought.

_**Though now that they've been dating, she does seem to regret it. She certainly **__**sounds**__** jealous. By why help him get the girl when she knew it would make her crazy?**_

He didn't know Sally. She went to a different school. But from what Casey had told him, she was actually a pretty sweet girl. Which is why it was very telling that Casey seemed to hate her, now that she was Derek's girlfriend.

Shutting the files with a bang, he got up and paced his office. Derek was realizing how much he cared. How could he get Casey to do the same?

On his way to school, Alicia called him. He put the phone on speaker and rested it on his lap.

"What's up, babe?"

"Alex isn't feeling too well. His sugar's high, but he doesn't have a fever. I told him to go to school, and if he's still feeling bad, to call you to pick him up."

Paul sighed. He always ended up being the one to call out of work; Alicia had meetings all day that she could rarely miss, so he was stuck watching Alex when he was sick. "Okay, that's fine. Have a good day."

"You too, hon. See you later."

"Bye." Paul hung up and shook his head. This was a bad day for Alex to get sick. It was a Casey day, and he was dying to know how Sally's latest dinner with the family had gone.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Sure enough, Alex called two hours later, whining that his head hurt and that he wanted to come home. Paul hated to do this to him, but he figured he had no choice – he left school to pick up his son, but came right back in time for Casey's appointment.

Alex sat listlessly in a chair, as Paul caught up on some paperwork behind his desk.

"I'm sorry I couldn't take you home, buddy, but you know I have an important meeting today."

"Whatever." Alex shifted so that his head was resting on the back of the chair, and pulled out his mp3 player.

"That's not going to help your headache," Paul offered, knowing Alex wouldn't care.

"I don't care."

"How's your sugar?"

"Back to normal. But I still feel sick."

"Sorry, buddy. We'll go home as soon as I'm done meeting with Casey, okay?"

"Okay," Alex sighed, and put on his headphones, tuning out the world.

Paul continued working until he heard Casey knock, and then come in.

"Paul, it was terrible. Derek spent the whole night playing footsie…" she trailed off as she saw Alex.

He perked up, turning off his music and standing to shake her hand and introduce himself.

Paul hid a smile. His kid had manners, he'd give him that. Especially when a pretty girl was around.

"Alex, why don't you go to the cafeteria and get something to eat while I talk to Casey?"

Alex looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it. "Want anything?" he offered to Casey as he headed towards the door.

"Aw, how sweet. But no thanks, I'm not hungry."

"What, not going to offer your old man anything?" Paul raised his eyebrows.

"Nope!" Alex smirked as he opened the door and headed into the hall.

"Bolus!" Paul called after him.

"Yeah, yeah," Alex replied, shutting the door.

"Bolus?" Casey looked at Paul for an explanation.

"Alex is diabetic. It just means to remember to take his insulin."

"Oh, wow, I had no idea, Paul. That's awful."

Casey was looking awfully sympathetic. But he didn't want her pity. In his eyes, she was the one who was worse off. At least Alex wasn't afraid to say what he felt.

"It's okay, Casey. He deals with it very well. I'm proud of him."

She brightened. "That's great."

"Now, on to your newest Derek problem. He was playing footsie with whom?"

Casey rolled her eyes. "My Derek problem? Jeez, Paul, you make him sound like a disease. Which he can be."

_Oops_. "Derek's no disease. He's a pill sometimes, but that's about it." There was a twinkle in Paul's eye as he said it.

Casey looked stunned at the joke. "That's not fair. You don't even know him."

_I beg to differ. Besides, you walked right into my 'only I can insult Derek' trap. Thank you for proving my point._

Casey continued, "Anyway, he was rubbing his foot all over Sally's, and I was right next to her so I could feel it too. It was horrible."

_Flaunting his relationship right in front of you, huh? Derek sure does know how to make a girl jealous._

"Sally didn't cook again, did she?"

"No, Mom and George did. Sally kept complimenting them on how good it was. I wanted to smash George's casserole in her perfect little face." She looked murderous; Paul backed up a bit.

"Casey?" he wasn't quite sure how to react to this confession.

She relaxed momentarily. "Well, I thought about it." She paused. "The thing is, she's _nice_."

"But?" _I know there's a 'but' in there somewhere._

"But…she's nicer when she's not with _him_." _Ah, there it is. _

"So you don't like the idea of Derek and Sally together?"

"I don't want Derek with anyone. He's a bad influence on all the girls he dates."

Paul chose to ignore that obvious stretch of the truth. "Did Derek and Sally do anything else at dinner that annoyed you?"

"Sally offered to help me do the dishes, but Derek took her upstairs, so I had to do them all by myself."

"Casey…" Paul looked at her sternly. "You know you would have declined her offer anyway."

"It's the principle of the thing, Paul!"

_Yeah, yeah. You and your principles. _

Something occurred to him. "You said they went upstairs?"

Casey rolled her eyes. "George made him keep the door open."

Just then Alex reentered the office, carrying a bag of chips and a bottle of water.

"Hello, again," he greeted Casey, settling down in a chair against the wall.

She smiled. "Hey, Alex. How do you like our cafeteria?"

"It's fine. Better food than we have at _my_ school." He made a face of disgust at Paul. "I met this guy on the way back, Derek something. He was late for class and I was talking to him about his leather jacket. Can I get one, Dad?"

"Absolutely not," Paul replied, as Casey giggled.

Paul had been watching Casey as his son spoke and noticed that the corners of her mouth had turned up when he had said Derek's name. It wasn't a full smile, but it was something.

Casey stood up. "I'd better get going. It was nice to meet you, Alex. Bye, Paul."

"You, too," Alex smiled, as Paul chimed in his goodbye.

_Great_, he thought._ That session accomplished exactly…nothing._

Alex turned to his father after Casey had gone. "She was really pretty, Dad. What year is she?"

"Grade 11," Paul answered. "But don't you get any ideas. She's a little too old for you, son."

Alex grinned, and opened his chips, offering the bag to his father. Paul took one and munched on it thoughtfully.

_Figures. Casey's finally single, and Derek gets himself a girlfriend._ He knew it was just so Derek could "prove" he wasn't into Casey, but really, he was making it very difficult for Paul to play matchmaker.


	3. The Problem of Derek

This chapter's mostly introspective on Paul's part, but Casey and Derek show up for a bit!

Oh, and this is something I've been wondering about for awhile. What exactly is Paul's last name? If you listen closely to his scene in The Room it's…Greebie? Or something like that. I don't think it's actually "Creepy," because of that scene, so if anyone knows, please tell me!

Enjoy!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I own this version of Paul, and of course Alicia and Alex, but I definitely don't own Middle Manic, which makes up a large part of this chapter.

**Life with Paul: The Problem of Derek**

Paul couldn't sleep again. He had had a particularly draining faculty meeting that day, and had put a pretty big dent in his wallet taking Alicia and Alex out to dinner, but that wasn't what was keeping him up.

No, it was stressing over Casey's problem. Again. He couldn't help it. He felt for the girl. Heck, it had taken him six months of knowing Alicia to get up the courage to ask her out—but he knew the stakes were higher for Derek and Casey.

He tiptoed to his office and closed the door softly. By the light of his reading lamp, he flipped through the Case Files. There had to be a way to get those two together. There just had to be. But he knew it wasn't his place to interfere. He just had to try to get them moving in the right direction. Derek _would_ take longer to convince, but he was already so far gone that Paul knew it would probably be easier to concentrate on his feelings. Casey had so much else going on in her life. He just hoped she could manage to stay single long enough for Derek to come to his senses.

Paul had gleaned, from his conversations with Casey, that Derek would dump Sally in a heartbeat if he thought he had a chance with Casey. But what was holding him back? The stepsibling issue? Problematic, yes, but not crucially important. Could it be he felt he wasn't good enough for her? Maybe. But again, not important. It was obvious they were each other's perfect compliment.

He slammed his fist into his palm. But _how _to make Derek see it?

He flipped to the entry he'd written the first time they'd met.

_**I met Derek today. An experience, let me tell you. I tried to get him to open up about Casey and Sam's relationship, but he wouldn't have it. **__**Jealous**__**, maybe?**_

Paul snorted. _Maybe?_ What a difference a year made.Oh, he had _definitely_ been jealous. Paul couldn't really pinpoint exactly when he had figured out the attraction between the two. He had suspected Casey had been harboring some feelings since about their second meeting, but he couldn't tell when he'd realized Derek reciprocated those feelings. He knew it was right around the time Sam and Casey got together, but probably before he and Derek met. The day Derek walked into his office unannounced, he was already pretty sure there was something between them. And their first meeting just confirmed it.

He thought back to what he liked to refer to as "that fateful week."

_Casey came into his office, face scrunched up with tears. She folded her arms crossly and sniffed._

"_Sam?" Paul asked._

_Still crying, Casey answered, "Yes, Sam. We had another fight. I just…I don't know what's wrong. Is it me or is it him?"_

_Pulling out some tissues, Paul considered the best way to respond. "Maybe it's the both of you, and how you communicate." He handed her a tissue._

_She took it, but then her phone rang. "Sorry."_

"_That's okay," Paul said calmly. He knew she was a drama queen, but he did feel for her. He knew how much she liked Sam. _

"_Just one sec." She dug into her bag for the cell phone. _

"_Of course." He'd be patient if it killed him. He had to know what the deal was with the feuding lovebirds._

"_A text message from Sam."_

_Paul groaned inwardly. He'd apparently snagged a front-row seat to the drama. "Mm-hm." He nodded in what he hoped was an encouraging manner._

_She read it aloud: "I'm really sorry." Her eyes lit up. "Awww. How sweet!"_

_Oh, boy, Paul thought. He mustered up a smile; luckily Casey didn't see how fake it was. "So, uh, about your, uh, problem with Sam." He sat down, clasping his hands on his knees. Come on Paul, get her back on track, he told himself._

"_Oh, no, no, it's okay. Everything's fine again." Casey was beaming._

_Paul hated to burst her bubble. "…Really?" He tried to chuckle, but it came out like a sigh._

"_Really! Bye." Casey, still beaming, took her leave._

_Paul hung his head and covered his eyes with his hand. Oh, no. That went nowhere. Well, at least she managed to avoid talking about Derek for once. _

_Two days later, he got the surprise of his life._

_He was minding his own business, looking over some papers while eating his sandwich, when a boy entered his office. He'd never seen him before, but the boy seemed to know him._

"_It's Paul, right? I've heard good things." He was friendly enough, but definitely looked like there was something up his sleeve._

"_Do you have an appointment?" Paul muttered through a mouthful of bread. He knew he was being rude, but there was just something…off…about this boy._

_The boy immediately got cocky. "No, but I'm sure you're dying to talk to me. I'm Casey McDonald's stepbrother._

_HOLY MOTHER OF…Paul spit out the half-chewed piece of sandwich. You've got to be kidding me, he thought as he coughed._

_He couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Please, Derek…have a seat, please." He was grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't help it._

_Derek sauntered over to the furthest chair from the desk and settled himself into it. "Let me guess. Casey's mentioned me once or twice."_

_Once or twice? I could fill a book with everything I already know about you, kid, he thought, giddy._

"_Mm-hm," he answered, as Derek kept talking._

"_See, here's the deal. Casey's in this totally messed up relationship with Sam, and I just—"_

_Paul felt as though Christmas had come early. "And, and, how do you feel about Casey dating your best friend?" He rubbed his hands together, expecting some juicy gossip. From Derek Venturi himself! His job didn't get any better!_

_Derek deflected the question easily. Darn. "Heh, nice try but we're not talking about me, we're talking about Casey." Paul stifled a grin at this—he was so like Casey, who was always trying to rise above Paul's attempts at psychoanalysis. But Paul knew he was stronger, as he had proven to be so many times against Casey's rantings._

_Derek continued, "So I figured that we could solve their relationship problems together."_

_It killed him to say it, but he had to lay down the law. "Sorry, Derek. I can't talk to you about Casey, or her relationship, but we could talk about you." It was true, he really couldn't. But even if he could, he was much more interested in Derek's point of view. _

_Derek looked defeated, but Paul figured he was usually a determined guy. Even so, Derek said, "Fine. The truth is…" He stood up as he talked, acting like he was about to make some sort of major announcement. Paul could see right through that. He wondered if Derek would say anything true about himself._

_Derek groaned. "This is hard." He came over to sit down right in front of Paul's desk. Paul was failing miserably at hiding the giant smile that had spread across his face. "I'm the one with the problem."_

_Paul nodded his head as though Derek was really confessing something here. "Mm."_

"_Me and my girlfriend, we fight constantly, and…could you tell me how to patch things up…by Saturday?"_

_The boy was good, Paul'd give him that. He looked so sincere and troubled._

_He had to play along. "I don't believe in quick fixes."_

"_Ya don't?" Derek stared at him._

_Paul shook his head slightly, a small smile forming. _

"_Well, uh, could you point me in the direction of somebody who does?" _

_Paul wanted to smack him. Ingrate. "All I can say, to you and your girlfriend...is that communication is key." He hoped Derek understood what he meant. It was the only way he could help him out unless Derek got to the root of the real problem. There had to be something else—some ulterior motive for why he had come._

_Then it hit him. Maybe he didn't want to see Casey upset? A possibility. _

_Meanwhile,"Communication is key?" Derek asked in disbelief. "That's it?"_

_Paul smiled and nodded. "Mm."_

"_How much is Casey paying you?" Derek looked absolutely mystified now. _

_Paul gave him a hard look, then couldn't help but smile and shake his head slowly from side to side. Derek certainly was a trip. _

_He left Paul's office then, without a thank you. Paul hadn't really been expecting one, but it would have been nice. _

_He sat quietly for a moment, thinking about what had just transpired. Was it possible that Derek was a little jealous of Sam? He knew Derek had to have some feelings for her, but how deep they actually went, he had no idea. But you don't just go barging in to your sister's guidance counselor and complain about her relationship. Unless, he really was harboring some feelings of jealousy. But why the insistence on getting them back together?_

Paul learned later that the theatrics had mostly to do with making sure Sam was playing hockey well, so they'd win a trip to Sweden and meet girls. He couldn't fault the guy for trying, he supposed, rolling his eyes at the memory. But it was obvious Derek hadn't just wanted to save their relationship for a hockey game—there had been genuine concern for Casey in his voice that day.

But Derek had made a big mistake in coming to Paul. After that, Paul knew how he operated, what a good liar he was, and that he actually did care about Casey. Those were strong weapons to have against a guy, and he knew he'd gotten through to him the other day when he'd let it slip that he knew about Derek's feelings. But it wasn't enough to crack him. The few times they'd seen each other had all ended badly. Paul just had to make sure Derek kept coming to him, because twisted as it was, they had a relationship now. Derek could count on Paul to tell him the truth, whether he wanted it or not, and Paul could count on Derek to give him a better perspective on his power struggle with Casey.

When Derek had come to see him about them sneaking out together, Paul realized it was sort of a cry for help. Help in getting his feelings to go away, or help in getting Casey to see how he felt? Paul wasn't sure.

He turned off the light in his office and crept back to bed, leaving thoughts of his students behind. He'd have to get some sleep if he was going to survive a full day at school tomorrow.


	4. The Hockey Game

I'm not sure if Paul would have participated in Parents' Night, but for the sake of this, pretend he's never met the rest of the McDonald-Venturi clan.

Enjoy!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the stuff in my bedroom. And no, Paul's not currently hiding under my bed.

**Life with Paul: The Hockey Game**

"Meanwhile, Eric apparently can't carry a tune, so Stacey creates this pirate rap for him…" Paul trailed off as he gazed at his attentive wife. "You sure you want to hear this story?"

Alicia grinned at him. "Of course. I remember when you chaperoned that play, but I don't remember you telling me about Eric being in it."

"Well, Eric had to audition because he needed the grade, or something, and of course Stacey was upset he was moving in on her territory…"

"Which was just an added bonus on Eric's part, because he got to hang around her all day during rehearsals while getting a grade for it."

Paul's eyes lit up. "I didn't even think of that!"

Alicia put a forkful of salad in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Once she swallowed, she nodded emphatically. "Oh, yeah. Don't you think Eric would take every opportunity to be around her without anybody wondering why?"

Paul nodded too. "Makes perfect sense. I mean, that would explain why he planned a birthday party for her when he realized he wouldn't be invited to her original one."

"And why he decided to come home and help with Ted and Izzie's birthday party. Didn't you say they saved the party together?"

They were on a roll. "And why he let her be in his band for Clash of the Bands. Uninterrupted Casey time, when it doesn't even look like he's trying to be near her."

Alicia was waving her fork emphatically. "That Eric's a smooth operator, let me tell you!"

Paul laughed. "You talk like you know him."

"No, I talk like I know of guys just _like_ him. There's a reason I record all those soaps."

Paul snorted. "Because they have _such_ relevance to real life. You're talking about fictional characters, Al!"

"You just made my point. Who's to say life can't imitate art? I'm telling you, Eric is just like some of my characters."

"Your characters?"

She swatted his arm from across the table. "You know what I mean. I'm just saying, his actions don't surprise me."

Paul nodded. "Makes sense. Though I hate to think how Stacey would react if I likened her to a soap opera star."

"I bet she watches plenty herself. She's melodramatic enough."

"True." They smiled at each other and continued eating.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

After dinner, Paul drove over to pick up Alex from a friend's house. As Alex got in the car, Paul had a sudden inspiration.

"Hey buddy, want to go check out the high school hockey game?"

Alex's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Paul had no idea what possessed him to do it, but he had backed out of the driveway and headed toward Thompson without a second thought, handing Alex the cell phone so he could let Alicia know where they were going.

The game was crowded, and Paul and Alex took seats next to a family with three kids.

Paul spread a blanket over their legs. "You remember that guy you met - Derek? The guy with the leather jacket?" Alex nodded. "There's his best friend Sam, and there he is, the forward right over there."

"Cool." Alex scanned the ice, watching the players doing warm-up drills.

"You know Derek?" a voice piped up, and the little girl sitting next to Alex peered over at them.

Paul did a double take. It couldn't be…but yes, there was Marti, and the two older kids must be Lizzie and Edwin, and then the parents, George, and…Nora, was it?

"Yes, we've met," Paul told Marti, and she smiled.

"Hi, I'm Marti. Are you one of Derek's teachers?"

Paul shrugged. "You could say that. I'm Paul, and this is my son Alex."

By this time, the rest of the family had tuned in to the conversation and began introducing themselves.

Paul was hoping they'd forget his relationship to Casey, because he'd already said he knew Derek, and how could he explain that they'd both been coming to see him?

Of course, Nora knew who he was. "Aren't you Casey's guidance counselor? She says such nice things about you."

"Well thank you. Yes, Casey comes to see me when she needs to talk."

"Oh, she's the girl I met last week, right?" Alex piped up, and Paul gave him a quick nod before continuing.

"I like to come to some of the games to support the team," Paul explained, hoping to change the subject. He cast a sidelong glance at Alex, but the kid knew enough not to contradict that, even though he was pretty sure Paul had never been to one of Thompson's hockey games before.

Marti, incorrigible as usual, asked, "But you said you knew Derek. I thought you were _Casey's_ guidance counselor."

Nora and George looked interested, and Paul noticed that Lizzie had whispered something to Edwin; both were smirking.

Paul did his best to hide his discomfort. "Well, I've met Derek a couple of times."

"Have you?" George asked, intrigued.

"Well sure. And Casey certainly talks a blue streak about him, so I feel like I know him." He forced a chuckle.

Lizzie and Edwin were whispering again. That was getting on Paul's nerves. Marti just smiled sweetly.

Nora and George, however, were apparently very interested in making Paul uncomfortable.

"I'm sure she complains about him all the time, doesn't she?" Nora asked, and George groaned.

"Those two have never gotten along," he added.

Paul shrugged. "Well, she doesn't _always_ complain about him. Though they sure do like to push each other's buttons."

"That's for sure," Nora muttered and George chimed in his agreement.

"So, Alex, do you know Lizzie and Edwin from school? I think they're a grade above you." Paul was desperate for a change of subject.

Alex smiled at Lizzie and Ed and they smiled back. But all Alex said was, "Nope."

Nora started to say something else about Casey to Paul, but he was rescued by the start of the game.

He and Alex watched in silence. It was surreal, sitting next to Casey and Derek's family. They would all stand up and cheer for Derek, and Paul felt awkward doing the same, so he and Alex just clapped politely every time Derek scored a goal.

About twenty minutes in, Alex turned to Marti and asked, "Hey, isn't Casey coming?"

Marti scrunched up her nose. "Casey never comes to Derek's games. We're all here when it's a really important game, but he says he doesn't want _her_ to come."

Paul's ears perked up at that.

"But I think he's lying," Marti continued. "_I_ think he told her not to come because her watching will make him nervous."

_Whoa._ Paul liked Marti already. Could she see how he felt about Casey?

Alex just nodded. "Huh. I guess."

After the game, Nora insisted Paul and Alex come with them to congratulate Derek. Paul was in the middle of politely declining when Alex tugged on his arm. "Come on, Dad, I want to say hi to him."

Paul suddenly wished he had stayed home.

But then again, here was an excellent opportunity to see how Derek acted towards Paul when other people were around.

They headed towards the locker rooms and met up with Sam and Derek. "We won!" They crowed as Edwin and Derek did a fist pound. He scooped Marti up and she hugged him.

"Great job, Smerek!"

"Thanks, Smarti! My good luck charm comes through again!" Derek planted a kiss on her cheek and she giggled. Sam reached over and tousled her hair. Every else gave their pats on the back and congratulations to the boys.

Then Derek saw Paul.

"Paul!" he cried in surprise, nearly dropping Marti.

"Hello, Derek. Great game." He reached out to shake his hand, and Derek took it, but his face remained impassive.

Paul introduced himself and Alex to Sam, and they all shook hands.

"Wait a minute, you're Casey's Paul?" Sam asked, looking confused.

Paul nodded. "Yes." He wasn't going to offer any more information than that. Sam didn't need to know that he knew practically every detail of their previous relationship drama.

"Hey," Derek said, looking at Alex in recognition. "I saw you the other day."

Alex grinned. "Yeah. I really liked your leather jacket. I asked Dad for one, but he said no."

Derek looked at Paul, amused, then back at Alex. "Doesn't want you to turn out like me, huh?"

"Derek!" George scolded, and Derek grinned devilishly.

Once again, Paul wanted to go home. But he was a professional. He could handle Derek. "Not at all. I just think he's a little young." He stared straight into Derek's eyes, and Derek stared straight back.

Of course, Alex chimed in with, "Da-ad! No I'm not." But he stayed quiet after that.

The staring contest between Derek and Paul was starting to become noticeable, and Sam cleared his throat. "I'm, uh, gonna go find my family. Later, guys." He punched Derek on the arm, which made him break the eye contact, and Paul snapped out of it as well.

Everyone said goodbye to Sam, and Paul told Alex, "We'd better get going, too." He turned to the McDonald-Venturis. "It was nice meeting you all," he said, shaking their hands. When he got to Derek and Marti, he merely nodded. "Be seeing you, Derek?"

Derek winced. "Yeah, I'll see you _around_," he emphasized, and Marti gave her brother a searching look.

Paul nodded again, and led Alex away.

"Hey Dad, what's Casey to Derek?" Alex asked as he and Paul headed out to their car.

"She's his stepsister."

"Oh. Because they made it sound like they were related, but why do they hate each other?"

"They don't hate each other. They just like to get on each other's nerves." Paul was enjoying explaining this to Alex. Their relationship didn't have to be as complicated this way, when he couldn't reveal all the details.

"Oh. Well I think they're both nice. And their family is too."

"Very nice," Paul agreed. It was true, they were. But he had no idea how they lived in a house so full of sexual tension and didn't go crazy. He hoped he hadn't taken things too far with Derek. He could only imagine how they'd gossip about him on the way home. _Then again_, he smiled to himself, _I've done my share of gossiping._


	5. The Unsolicited Free Advice

I really like this chapter, and I hope you do, too! Let me know!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: Not mine.

**Life with Paul: The Unsolicited Free Advice **

_I've lost my mind. I've really, really lost it. I've gone round the bend._ Paul pulled into a parking space and sat quietly for a moment, in utter shock from what he was about to do.

After school one afternoon, Paul had made a decision. He wanted to meet Sally. He had to see what she was like. He couldn't even find out what she looked like, because she wasn't in the yearbook. It had been eating away at him, so he had finally decided to just go for it.

He'd never been to Smelly Nelly's, but enough kids talked about it, so he knew it was a popular hangout. He had no idea what he would say if he met any Thompson High students there that afternoon, but frankly he wasn't concerned about that. He was a man on a mission…however foolhardy that mission was.

He shut off the car and quickly got out before he could change his mind. He locked the doors and turned to face the entrance, sucking in his breath. If he saw Derek or Casey, all he had to do was turn around and walk out. But if they weren't there, he'd have to actually go in and order something, because he needed Sally to be his waitress.

He entered tentatively, scanning the restaurant for any McDonalds or Venturis. _Phew._ The place was almost empty. Then again, it was four o'clock on a school day, so he didn't expect a crowd.

Taking a seat by the door in case he had to make a quick exit, he picked up a menu and scanned it hastily.

A pretty blonde girl came over to take his order, and he tried to read her name tag, but her hair was blocking it.

"Good afternoon, sir. What can I get you?"

"I'll have a root beer float, please." _May as well do it right_, he thought.

"No problem." She collected his menu with a smile and bounced away.

That had to be Sally. _But how to know for sure?_

He leaned as far out of the booth as he could, straining to hear something from the kitchen. There were several voices, but he couldn't make out any actual words.

He inched a little further off of the booth. Still nothing.

"Paul?!"

The voice jolted him upright, and he fell unceremoniously from the booth, landing on the floor in a heap. The waitress, hearing his yelp, reemerged from the kitchen, and darted over.

"Are you all right, sir?"

The original voice came over to help him up as well, and Paul recognized Jennifer, the mother of one of Alex's friends.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he muttered, waving his hand to dismiss their assistance in getting up. He stood quickly, trying not to appear too mortified. The waitress, seeing that he was fine, returned to the kitchen with a smile.

_Darn._ He still hadn't seen her nametag.

"I thought this place didn't serve alcohol," Jennifer joked, and Paul managed a laugh.

"Very funny. What are you doing here?"

"I came to pick up some dessert. My boss is coming over for dinner."

Paul smiled. "Not going to attempt baking, eh, Jenn?"

She shook her head. "Goodness, no. You remember when I sent your son home with those poisonous brownies?"

"They weren't nearly that bad!" he insisted. She gave him a Look. "Well, okay, yes they were. Buying dessert is a good idea."

She nodded. "Definitely. I'm going to go over to the counter to pick out what I want. Try not to fall over again while I'm gone, okay?"

Paul made a face at her. "I'll try."

He sat down again and tried to smooth down his clothes, which were disheveled from the fall. So far all he'd gotten out of this impulsive trip was a bruised ego.

The waitress came out to the counter and rang up the baked goods. Jennifer waved goodbye to Paul and the waitress returned to the kitchen yet again.

Paul was about to start pacing, when she finally brought his float.

"There you are, sir. Enjoy!" She smiled perkily, and began to walk away.

He threw caution to the wind. "Sally!" She turned. _That's her! Wonderful!_

"Yes?"

"Oh, um, never mind."

She gave him a strange look, but shrugged it off. Derek Venturi chose that moment to come bursting through the door.

"I'm here; now this place can start running properly…" He saw Paul and fell silent immediately.

Sally came over to say hello, but paused when she saw him glaring at Paul.

Paul just smiled back at Derek, and Sally looked from one to the other in confusion.

"Am I missing something?" she asked, and Paul turned to look at her.

"Derek's an old friend." He turned back to Derek, whose face was the opposite of friendly. "Hello, Derek. How are you?"

Derek ignored Paul completely and came over to sling an arm around Sally's shoulders, whispering in her ear as he led her quickly to the kitchen.

Paul pressed his forehead against the cool surface of the table, root beer float forgotten. He had to get out of there. Placing a few bills on the table, he got up to leave, but Sally came running out.

"Please don't leave because of Derek, sir. I know he can be rude sometimes."

Paul was dying to know what Derek had told her during the short time they'd been in the kitchen, but he sure was happy Derek wasn't there now.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I have to get going."

"Wait."

He looked up at her expectantly. "Yes?"

"Um," she hesitated, playing with her apron. "Derek said you were a guidance counselor."

_Okay…_ "Mm-hm."

"Do you think I could talk to you for a sec?"

Paul gaped at her. _You've got to be kidding me. _But he obliged.

She sat across from him in his booth and leaned in conspiratorially.

"Derek said you always try to get him to talk about his feelings."

Paul groaned. "I really can't be talking about this, Sally. It's not my place."

"No, please just listen." She brought her voice back down to a whisper, though Derek was presumably still in the kitchen. "He never talks to me. I try to say anything about how I feel and he interrupts me. What am I supposed to do?"

Paul sighed, and rubbed his temples again. _Why _had he wanted to come to Smelly Nelly's? This had to be the most colossally stupid thing he had ever done.

"Sally, I can't help you there. If Derek isn't comfortable talking about his feelings, you can't force him to do so."

"But there has to be something I can do. I practically told him I loved him the other night, and he went nuts."

"What?!" Paul was intrigued now. _Oh, boy._

"Yeah. We were talking, well, _I _was talking, about how we were going to keep up our relationship when I go to college this fall. And I said something like, 'I love you enough to put in the effort' and he practically threw me out of his room when I asked if he loved me too."

_Yes! Yes! Yes! Go Derek!_ Paul was cheering inside. _That's my boy. _He'd never say he loved someone unless he meant it, that much Paul was sure of.

"And how are you two getting along now?" He tried to look concerned when he saw how sad Sally was.

"We're both acting like it never happened. But I'm not sleeping with him again until he tells me where we stand."

_Oh for heaven's sake. Derek loses points for that. _"I'd say that sounds logical." Paul shook his head. "Look, Sally, you know as well as I do that you can't force Derek to do or say anything. If he loves you, he'll say it. Okay?"

"Wait, so you think he doesn't love me?"

_Casey is a picnic compared to this girl._ "Sally, I can't answer that. He may just need more time." _Dear God I hope not. _

"Yeah, time. I'll just be patient. He is a little immature, after all." She was smiling now, and Paul smiled back.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you so much." She got up, looking much happier than she had a moment ago. "Enjoy your drink. It's on the house."

Paul glanced at the float, appetite practically gone. "Thanks. And you're welcome." He shook his head in disgust at her retreating form, and had taken exactly one sip of the free drink, when Derek came bursting out of the kitchen.

"Paul, what the hell did you say to her?"

Paul choked on his mouthful of float. "Excuse me?" he spluttered.

"She just came back there, kissed me, and said you were the coolest guy ever." He rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide his annoyance.

"She kissed you, huh, Derek? I'd say there's no problem, then, right?" He chuckled.

"Don't be glib with me." Derek took a menacing step towards Paul, but he just laughed again.

"That's a Casey word. She's rubbing off on you."

"This has nothing to do with Casey."

"Derek, it has everything to do with Casey. It always does. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can stop stringing poor Sally along and do what I've been waiting for you to do for two years." With that, Paul took one last sip of his drink, set it down with a bang, and walked briskly to the door without waiting for Derek to respond. He glanced back and saw Derek looking at the ground, lost in thought.

_I made _Derek Venturi_ speechless!_ Paul popped his collar and did a goofy dance all the way to his car. There was something liberating about taking Derek down a peg on his own turf.

When he finally got home and explained to Alicia where he'd been, he just wanted to go take a nap. But he quickly jotted down a new entry in his Case Files first: _**Casey has no reason to be jealous of Sally. No reason at all. **_


	6. The Cover is Blown

Okay, just to clear some things up…Yes, it is ABSOLUTELY WRONG for Paul to be telling Alicia anything about Casey and Derek. But we've all broken the rules now and then, right? I feel like they take up so much of his energy, he just needs to come home and vent.

Also, this is a story of Paul's obsession with Dasey. But he is not a creepy stalker AT ALL. That was not my intention. I'm just showing the parts of his life that have to do with Dasey; he doesn't think about them 24/7, I swear. I'm not going to write about him going for bike rides with Alex and taking Alicia out dancing. (Unless you really want me to!) Because this story is Dasey-centric, even though it's about Paul, so I'm only including parts of his life that have to do with them. Make sense?

Just wanted to make sure we're all on the same page!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything I didn't buy myself or receive as a gift.

**Life with Paul: The Cover is Blown**

"You did what?!" Alicia stopped foraging in the refrigerator and turned to look at her husband, shock evident on her face. "Are you insane? You're going to get fired!"

Paul looked sheepish. He put down the salad tongs he had been using and held up both hands in a defensive stance. "Don't get angry, baby. Eric won't say anything to anyone. I can handle it."

"Yeah, you can _handle_ it right into the unemployment line! I can't believe you talked that way to a student!" She was practically shrieking now, and had to lower her voice to keep Alex from hearing. She glanced towards the living room, making sure he was still playing his video game.

"Look, I wasn't even in school, and it wasn't a big deal. You should have seen the way he was looking at me. If I believed Eric was capable of murder, I would have been a goner." He forced a smile at the weak joke, hoping she'd lighten up, but of course she didn't oblige.

"I don't care if he is or isn't! You just don't do that! I don't know what's gotten into you!"

"Sweetie, I'm telling you, it sounds worse than it was. You just don't know him like I do. It was just what he needed. He drives me nuts, but I really do care about the guy. I just need to make him see how much he loves Stacey."

Alicia sighed. "And what about this Allie girl you were talking about? The girl he's dating? I hope you didn't scar her for life!"

"Hey now, I didn't say anything wrong to her! I barely helped her."

"Barely? That means what, exactly?" Alicia narrowed her eyes.

"I talked to her like I would any other student, I swear," Paul sighed, picking up the salad tongs again. "Can we talk about this after dinner? I'm hungry."

"No we cannot talk about this after dinner," Alicia hissed. "I don't want Alex to know about this. He would never believe his father could be so unprofessional."

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill here, Al. Please calm down," he begged.

Alicia shook her head in frustration and went back to searching through the cold cuts. "Oh, I'll calm down. But only if you promise me you'll never do something that stupid again. You want bologna or turkey?"

"Turkey. Babe, you know I can't. But I do promise to be more careful next time I talk to him. You _are_ right that it's not worth it to get him so riled up."

She gave him a wry smile. "Well, it's not what I wanted to hear, but it's something." She called to Alex, "Alex, bologna or turkey?"

"Turkey, please!"

"Okay, time to come set the table!" Alicia pulled the turkey from its container and slapped it on three slices of bread. She and Paul finished gathering all the fixings they needed for their sandwiches, and carried them to the table.

Alex shut off his game and came into the dining room. He hastily laid out the plates and silverware, and Paul tossed him the bag with his meter. Alex dutifully pricked his finger, squeezed until a droplet of blood appeared, then pressed the blood to the strip in his glucose monitor.

"Well?" Paul asked, trying to read the number that had flashed across the screen.

"High," Alex mumbled.

Alicia's eyebrows shot up. "High? Your numbers have been great these last few days."

Alex blushed. "I forgot to bolus for my snack after school." He met his father's eyes defiantly, daring him to say how disappointed he was.

Paul stared right back. "I'm not going to say anything. You know you messed up."

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes and pulled out his pump, bolusing for both dinner and to correct his high sugar.

Alicia shared a smile with Paul. What were they supposed to do, punish him? The damage was done. But at least he hadn't given them a hard time about it. Sometimes they were subjected to a long whining session that was full of a lot of self-pity. But today, Alex dealt with it and moved on with his life.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

"Hey Dad, can we go to another of Derek's hockey games tomorrow?"

Paul looked nervously at Alicia. This was the first time Alex had said anything about Derek in her presence, and he didn't know about the code names.

"Um," he cleared his throat. "Maybe. I can't promise anything."

Alicia looked interested. "Who's Derek? I thought you went to see the high school team last time."

Alex nodded. "We did. Derek is on the high school team. We met his family and everything. It was really fun."

"Yes, it was." Paul shifted in his seat. "What's going on in school, Alex?" Paul winced inwardly at how ineffectively he had tried to change the subject, but hoped Alicia didn't notice.

Alex did, though. He raised an eyebrow at his father. "Uh, nothing special. Anyway, do you think Casey would come if she knew we were going?"

"No." Paul's gaze darted nervously to Alicia, who did not look happy.

"Wait, who's Casey?" she asked Alex.

"Derek's stepsister. They apparently have a really weird relationship, right, Dad?"

Paul was trying to catch Alicia's eye, but she was refusing to look his way. "Mm-hm," he answered distractedly.

"But anyway, she's really nice. And Derek is so cool. I really want a leather jacket like his…" Alex trailed off when he noticed his mother's stony face and his father's fidgeting.

Paul sighed. He was sure Alicia had figured it out by now, but he really couldn't see why she'd be angry. Every detail of the Derek-and-Casey saga had been true, except for their names.

Alicia was the first to snap out of it. "I'm glad you like them, but remember, they're in high school, sweetie. I really don't think Sta…um, Casey, would go to Derek's hockey game just because you two are going."

Alex shrugged. "Probably not. It was just an idea." He looked completely unaffected as he finished his meal.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Later that night, when Alex was getting ready for bed, Alicia pulled the book Paul had been reading out of his hand and said with a laugh, "_Stacey_ and _Eric_?"

Paul smiled, relieved that she wasn't upset with him anymore. "I figured it wouldn't be ethical for me to tell you their real names."

"Oh, but it's _ethical_ to go ambush a poor kid at his work?" She was grinning, but her eyes were stern.

"Let's not start this again. I was there to meet Allie, I mean, Sally, not to see Derek."

"Which is it, Allie or Sally?"

"Sally."

"You're a nut." She pulled his face to hers. "But I love you anyway." And she kissed his forehead, before handing him back his book and settling next to him on the couch.

"I love you, too." He looked over at her and winked. "But don't worry, this is our little secret. Alex has no idea they've got such a complicated history."

"Ha. Yet he can tell already that they have, what did he say, 'a really weird relationship?'"

"You're right. We have a smart kid." Paul leaned over to kiss her, and soon the book lay forgotten on his lap.


	7. The Battle of the Sexes

I'm realizing I write a lot of middle-of-the-night scenes for Paul. No idea why. I guess he's just a night owl!

And I suggest watching the Paul scene in Marti the Monster before reading this…it is magic, it really is. This contains spoilers from that episode, fyi.

And oh! **Important news**: Moirariordan is setting up a FangirlCon over at livejournal dot com. Think ComicCon but for fangirls! (and fanboys, too, of course!) Join her community on livejournal (it's just called FangirlCon) if you want to be a part of it. We need at least 10 participants in each fandom for it to be legitimized, so get joining!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: Don't own Marti the Monster. Or any characters in that episode.

**Life with Paul: The Battle of the Sexes **

An arm came out of nowhere and smacked Paul in the face as he lay in bed, trying to sleep.

"Ouch!" He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked over at Alicia, who was thrashing around and muttering to herself.

Paul shook her gently, and was rewarded with a punch to the chest for his efforts.

"Baby, wake up! You're having a nightmare," he said softly, as he rubbed her back. Alicia wasn't usually a mover while she slept, but bad dreams brought out the kickboxer within.

She finally quieted, and opened her eyes to see Paul staring down at her in concern. "You okay?" he asked.

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "It was terrible. I couldn't wake him up. Oh, God, I couldn't wake him up," she began sobbing, and Paul held her to him, weaving his fingers through her hair and whispering comforting words.

Wiping her eyes, she choked back one last sob and started to get out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Gotta go check on him," Alicia muttered, darting from the room.

Paul rubbed his eyes and turned on the bedside lamp. She'd had another nightmare about Alex.

When Alicia returned, Paul pulled her into a hug. "He's okay, right?"

She sighed and pulled away slightly. "Of course. You know I had to check, though."

"Yeah, baby."

She put her head on his shoulder and trailed her fingers down his chest. "I get so scared, because it seems so real, and it is a real danger that he could go into a coma if his sugar gets too low…" she trailed off, getting choked up again.

"I know, but he has a good handle on his lows and he pays attention to the symptoms. He always wakes up when he's low, you know that."

"Mm-hm." She paused. "That wasn't the whole dream."

"It wasn't?"

"No," she smiled slightly as she spoke, "We dropped him off with Derek and Casey, because they were the only ones who could babysit, and they were too busy making out to pay attention when he said he had low sugar…" she started to laugh and couldn't finish her sentence.

Paul kissed her forehead. "Oh, man, that's perfect. Now _you're_ having dreams about them." They laughed together for a few moments.

"What did you imagine they looked like?" Paul asked curiously.

"We-ell," Alicia sing-songed, looking guilty but sounding smug, "I sneaked a peek in last year's yearbook, so I know what they look like."

"Al!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Likely story. You have no willpower." Paul chuckled.

"_I_ have no willpower? Who was told, 'don't eat the cookies, if Alex sees you he'll want some and spoil his dinner,' and who ate the entire bag anyway?"

"Hey, I was doing him a favor!"

"Call it what you want, but I know what I saw." Alicia's eyes sparkled.

Paul kissed her gently. "Am I off the hook yet?"

"Not quite yet," she whispered.

Paul happily continued getting back in her good graces.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Paul sat at his desk the next day, typing up some recommendation letters students had asked him to write. He couldn't wait until Casey applied to college. He'd write a doozy of a letter for her. Determined, driven, smart, friendly…dramatic, whiny, uptight…and yet still completely loveable. He'd never understand how he managed to really, really like her and really, really wish she'd go away at the same time. _But what am I saying? She still has a year and a half left with me!_ There were many more mysteries of Casey yet to be unraveled.

Casey wasn't due in for a few hours, but he was already excited to see if she had learned about Paul's little surprise visit to Smelly Nelly's. He doubted Derek had told her, but Sally might have, if they'd seen each other.

He pushed his chair away from the computer and put his feet up on the desk, smiling at the memory of Alicia's dream the night before. He hated that she worried about Alex so much; let's face it, he did, too, but he had to admit, the Casey and Derek bit was pretty funny. He probably would allow Casey to babysit Alex, if the opportunity ever arose.

Although Alex was getting too old for a babysitter, they didn't like to leave him alone too often, just in case something went wrong diabetes-wise. Paul felt badly that they babied him, and sometimes Alex complained, like when he found out his friends were allowed to stay home alone. But most of the time Alex understood, and didn't actually want to be alone anyway. They usually left him with Alicia's mother, and they were close, so it worked out well for everyone.

Paul remembered the first time he had learned about Casey's babysitting skills. It was a Derek-related meeting, of course.

_Casey barged in, as usual, and began talking as if Paul knew what she was saying, as usual._

"_She wants me to babysit, because I'm a girl. How fair is that!?" _

"_Casey…"Paul knew he wasn't going to get to say much right then, but he always tried anyway. _

_  
"Mom considers herself a feminist?! It's totally sexist! Parents are such hypocrites!" She was pacing and yelling and fuming, and Paul just followed her with his eyes, waiting for his chance to speak._

"_She didn't, uh, make you do it, right?" Paul gripped his coffee cup, worry evident on his face. Maybe she had a legitimate concern here._

"_No, but she's making me feel guilty about _not_ doing it." Casey was still seething, and Paul was desperate to calm her down._

"_Okay, um," he put down his coffee cup and rubbed an eye, but Casey continued to boil. "Help me understand here, I mean, do you _like_ babysitting?" _

_Paul realized that the answer was probably yes, and she just needed to vent. It wasn't that she was being forced to do something she hated. But of course she was going for his sympathy. He'd have to set her straight, that's all._

_Casey's voice softened. "Of course, I love it."_

"_And you're good at it, right?"_

"_Yes, I took a course. I've been babysitting for years." She continued to pace. Paul wanted to grab her by the shoulders and set her down gently, but there was no way _that _was happening._

"_Okay, so help me out here, what's the issue?" _

"_The issue is, just because I happen to like, and be good at babysitting, doesn't mean I should be expected to do it just because I'm a girl." Casey was back to high volume and squeaky voice. Overreacting, much?_

_He had to make that squeaky voice go away. He tried to hold back a smile at her ridiculous tirade as he placed his fingers together in a prayer-like position._

_And then, the truth hit him. Oh my God. She said 'because I'm a girl.' I bet they wanted Derek to do it, too. It figures this goes back to him; he probably got out of babysitting fairly easily. And she wants to prove she can get out of it, too! Because she hates when Derek wins. For crying out loud, Casey, are you ever _not_ thinking about him??_

_Paul tried to put his mind back into their meeting. "Okay, um, Casey, it sounds to me that this isn't a girl versus guy thing; this is a Casey versus Derek thing." Paul held his breath, waiting for the inevitable lashing out against Derek._

_It didn't come. He watched her face, and she went from horrified to delighted in about a half a second. "You're right," she said with glee. "Derek's testing me." She looked far too excited by this. "He figures, girl in the house, great, I don't have to babysit again. Ever." Her voice got cold again. "Well he can forget it. I don't care how desperate my parents are. I will not sit!"_

_Paul noticed that she had finally taken a chair, but stood up as she said this. "Casey," he said, looking more than a little intimidated, "Could you sit down, please?" Gotta get her to calm down. A tornado has nothing on Casey McDonald. _

_She sat down sheepishly. "I meant…babysit."_

_Paul could tell she was feeling guilty for ranting so badly. He forced a laugh. "Oh," he chuckled, "Then, stand."_

_Casey stood. Are you serious, Casey? Cut me some slack, here! "Unless of course, you wanna sit down," he added, hoping she'd finally relax. It was not healthy to get this worked up over Derek. Even if she was madly in love with him. But Paul could tell that was the furthest thing from her mind right then._

_She sat, still looking guilty. Paul was done. She obviously was not going to let this babysitting thing go. He had no idea what else to say, and it was good that she had to leave, because he really didn't know how he was supposed to handle this. She had admitted it was a "Derek" thing, so that was a good sign. But did she really think Derek had planned to have her babysit because she's a girl? He didn't know Derek, but he had a feeling that it was more likely Derek just did not want to mess up his plans, whatever they were. What teenager hasn't been selfish at some point? _

_Oh, Casey, you make my head hurt, he thought._

Paul was startled by a knock on his door. "Come in!" he called.

It was Principal Lassiter. "Hey, Paul, I wanted to talk to you about Derek Venturi."


	8. The Behavior Change

I felt bad for the cliffhanger, so I'm posting a day early. I think Derek gets a little OoC at times from here on out, but it's to be expected when he's in this territory. You'll see.

Enjoy!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: LwD World does not belong to me. But I totally wish it did.

**Life with Paul: The Behavior Change **

Paul tried his best to keep his expression blank, but inside his stomach was churning. "Have a seat, Bob."

Principal Lassiter sat down across from Paul, and eyed him solemnly. "You've had some contact with Derek, I've heard."

Paul gulped. "Yes, he's been to see me a few times."

"Good. I'd like him to come see you regularly."

"What?!" Of all the reasons he could think of for Bob to come talk to him about Derek, _that_ was the _last_ thing on his mind.

Principal Lassiter sighed. "I just gave him his sixth detention this week. I don't know what's gotten into him, but he's worse than usual."

"Worse?"

"You know, the constant lateness, various instances of tomfoolery, and general all around Venturi attitude."

Paul hid a smile. "I see."

"He's been much better behaved lately, but yesterday I caught him putting honey all over a student's locker."

"Surprise, surprise." Paul shook his head in annoyance. "Poor Casey."

Principal Lassiter scrunched his eyebrows together. "How did you know—"

"Lucky guess." He hid another smile. "So let me get this straight. You want him to start coming to me for this…uh, behavioral problem?"

"Basically, yes. I'm at a loss. He's a good kid, he's just…"

"Rambunctious?" Paul offered.

"That's one word for it. I'd like to see him stop piling up all these detentions, and I thought if you could just try to give him some guidance, it might help."

Resisting the urge to laugh, Paul nodded. "That's what I'm here for. Though I'm not sure how much it will help."

"It's worth a try. Just for a couple of weeks."

"Okay," he sighed. "When should he start?"

"How about tomorrow morning at ten o'clock?"

"Sounds fine."

"Thanks, Paul." Principal Lassiter stood up to shake his hand. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Paul replied, taking the proffered hand. "I'll do my best."

Paul fell back into his chair with a moan as Principal Lassiter shut the door.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Casey entered Paul's office quietly, for once. She sat calmly, and looked at him, as if expecting him to speak first.

"Uh, hello, Casey…" Paul smiled warmly at her, but she merely nodded. "Anything…on your mind?"

"I want to hear your side of the story, first," Casey said, looking at him pointedly.

_Caseyyy._ "What story is this, exactly?" Paul feigned ignorance.

"Derek came home last night and said you came to Smelly Nelly's and yelled at him. He said you couldn't be trusted. Now, I'm the last one to believe Derek, but why would he say that, Paul?"

_Huh. Not bad, Derek—trying to turn her against me. But you'll have to do better than that._ "He's right. I was at Smelly Nelly's yesterday."

"And??" Casey was edging closer to the desk, clearly hoping to hear how wrong Derek was.

"And, I didn't _yell_ at him." Paul knew he had to be very careful to tell her nothing but the truth. But _omitting_ information wasn't exactly lying.

She looked at him blankly. "So…"

"So, I don't think I'm Derek favorite person, but I am most definitely trustworthy."

"How do you two know each other, anyway?"

"Well, he's been at this school for three years. We've crossed paths."

Casey seemed to have forgotten that she was upset with Paul and now looked interested. "So...does he come to see you?"

"Casey, I can't talk to you about this."

"Paul—" She looked dangerously close to getting whiny.

"No buts, Casey. We can talk about you, if you have something to talk about."

She pouted. "Come on, that's not fair."

"It most certainly is fair. If _you_ want to talk to Derek about this, that's fine. But I'm not going to discuss Derek with you."

"Fine," she huffed, flipping her hair back and settling into the chair. "I'm perfectly happy. No problems."

"Now wait a minute. Is that really true?"

"Of course it's true. I'm in a good place."

"Are you?" Paul tried to hide his surprise. "How is it going, trying to get back into your old interests?"

She brightened. "Oh, it's really great! I went back to dance, and we have a recital coming up. And the debate team won our last meet. And I went to the poetry reading with Noel on Friday—"

"You did?" Paul folded his hands in his lap and leaned back. "And how do you feel about Noel?" _Oh, God, if she likes him, there is no way I can stop her from dating him…please say you don't like him!_

"Noel's great." She frowned. "You mean—do I like him…like him?"

Paul nodded. Inside he was screaming.

"Not really. I mean, he's great and all, but I think we're just friends." She shrugged.

_Yes!!_ He let out a sigh without meaning to and quickly turned it into a cough. "Well, don't you think you should make sure you're not leading him on?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just got out of a relationship; I don't really want to get into another one right now. I'm having too much fun rediscovering myself!" She beamed at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. He was tempted to say, 'if you found the right guy…' but stopped himself.

"Good for you," he said instead, and she continued to smile.

"Thanks. Not even Derek can ruin my mood!" She got up and collected her things.

_And there it is…always back to Derek. Oh, Casey, your consistency warms my heart. _

"Well, you have a good day," Paul said, watching her carefully.

"You too, Paul!" She flitted out of the room. He hadn't seen her that happy in a very long time. At least she hadn't believed Derek's attempt to drive a wedge between them. He was looking forward to the next morning; maybe he'd finally get through to the boy.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

At ten o'clock on the dot, Derek waltzed into Paul's office, tossed his backpack to the floor, and folded his arms across his chest as he sat stiffly in a chair by the door.

"Good morning, Derek, thanks for being on time," Paul smiled cheerfully at him, and Derek scowled.

They sat in silence for a moment, until Paul sighed. "Derek, this was not my idea. Principal Lassiter suggested we meet, in case there's anything on your mind. _Is_ there anything…or anyone…on your mind?"

Derek continued to scowl, and he turned his face away from Paul.

"The silent treatment rarely works, you know," Paul tried his best to sound kind. "I'm going to keep talking, and hope that you hear at least some of what I'm saying. I heard about the honey incident. Not one of your best pranks, I have to tell you. Though I bet it made her smell good." He stifled a laugh. _Come on, Derek, take the bait!_

Derek slammed his hands down onto the chair's armrests and made eye contact. He got up slowly and advanced toward the chair across from Paul. He sat in it quickly, and leaned forward, never breaking eye contact. "Listen, Paul," he spat. "You and I both know I don't want to be here. I'll do my time for Lassiter, because we're tight. But this," he gestured around at the office, "is most definitely not going to happen. I'm not going to feed into your bullshit. You're not going to make me angry enough to talk, so stop it."

Paul leaned back, putting some distance between them. "You're right. I can't force you to talk to me. But I think it might help."

"You can't help me." Derek finally looked away, and began staring at the clock, as if willing the hands to move faster.

"Maybe I can and maybe I can't. But let me assure you, I've been in love. So I can relate."

Derek snorted derisively. "You can't even begin to relate."

"Derek, you're angry at me now, and that's fine. But I really think that if you just try to talk, it might make you feel better."

"I feel fine, thanks," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Paul sat up straight again, and began rifling through some papers, ignoring Derek.

Derek continued to stare sullenly at the clock for another few minutes, when suddenly, he turned, animosity gone. "Okay, Paul, here's the truth. I can't help misbehaving. It's like, people expect me to mess up all the time, so I give them what they want, you know?"

Paul continued to sort through the papers, and didn't look up. "Nice try, but I'm not falling for it."

Derek smirked. "It was worth a shot."

Paul looked up and smiled, then. "Yes, it was. But we understand each other too well, Derek."

This got his attention. He tried not to appear curious, but Paul caught his expression anyway. "You see," he explained, "we can call each other on our crap. You see right through me, and I see right through you. Kind of like what you and Casey have."

At the mention of Casey, Derek clammed up and frowned again.

Paul realized his mistake. "Derek, I just meant that you two understand each other. That's all."

"So what if we do?" Derek continued to look at the clock, but Paul could tell he was warming up.

"Well, that's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Don't you think you're missing out on a good thing if you let it pass you by? She won't be single forever, you know."

Derek looked like he wanted to answer, but remained silent. At least he wasn't angry anymore.

"What is it? Is it the stepsibling thing? Because I can ask your parents to come in for a meeting, if you wanted me to. Is it about your reputation? Or are you afraid you won't be able to handle the commitment?"

"_Stop_." He said it firmly, and glanced quickly at Paul. But he still hadn't gotten angry again. Paul was impressed.

"Do you know that it took me six months to get up the courage to ask my wife on a date?"

Derek was actually looking at Paul now, and while his expression was unreadable, his breathing had returned to normal.

"We met in college. We both had to take a freshman seminar, and they seated us alphabetically so we could meet new people. We hit it off right away, but once the class was over I still hadn't gotten her number. I thought I might never see her again. One day that spring, I was walking across the cafeteria and spotted her. I stopped short, and the guy behind me plowed into me—his spaghetti went into my back. But I kept walking. I crossed the room, grabbed her hand, and asked her out for that night. With tomato sauce dripping down my back. And she just laughed, handed me a napkin, and said, 'Sure, as long as we don't get Italian.'"

Derek smirked. "That is the lamest story I've ever heard."

"Considering we've been together for seventeen years, I'd say it's the opposite of lame." Paul smiled at him, but Derek didn't quite return it. He only shook his head in disbelief.

Paul glanced at the clock. "Ready to leave?"

Derek's eyes widened. "I can go?"

"If you want," Paul shrugged. "I think you've had enough guidance for one day, don't you?"

Derek shot him another look of disbelief. "You're ready to get rid of _The_ Derek Venturi? There must be something wrong with you—"

"Check the cocky attitude at the door, Derek."

He rolled his eyes. "You're really not in any position to tell me what to do."

Paul nodded in agreement. "Probably not."

"Later, Paul."

Paul feigned surprise. "You're coming back?"

Derek shrugged. "I told you, me and Lassiter are tight." He paused, hand on the doorknob. "Bye, Tomato Boy."

Paul waved, and said in a horrible British accent, "Toodle-loo!"

Derek gave him a withering look, and strolled out the door.

Paul kicked his feet out from under his desk and spun in his chair until he was dizzy. _Yes! Derek is starting to crack! _


	9. The Parents' Night

I just watched Lars and the Real Girl (amazing movie!) and PAUL IS IN IT. This makes me very happy. Rejoice in the spreading of Arnold Pinnock love!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I disclaim any ownership of stuff that's not mine.

**Life with Paul: The Parents' Night**

"So, I was thinking…" Paul stroked Alicia's hair as he moved it off her face, and she smiled up at him. "Parents' Night is Tuesday."

"Mm?" Alicia snuggled closer, and closed her eyes. "And?"

"And…do you want to come with me?"

Alicia's eyes flew open. "You think I can?"

Paul shrugged, "I don't see why not. I'm manning the refreshment table, since I don't actually have any computer science classes this semester. They're always looking for more volunteers."

"So, you're saying I can go, if I work for it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Take it or leave it."

Alicia rolled over onto her own pillow, pulling Paul's arm so that he was wrapped around her protectively. "Consider it taken." She kissed his outstretched hand, which was busy caressing hers, and sighed contentedly. "Good night, Paul."

"Good night, Al."

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Parents' Night was crowded, and Alicia and Paul were both kept too busy serving food to talk much. But he had promised to let her know as soon as he spotted the Venturis.

"We're out of ice in the cooler!" she called, as another parent came up for a drink.

"On it!" Paul answered. He grabbed the ice bucket and headed towards the kitchen. He pulled open the freezer, and was about to start scooping ice, when he heard someone talking. That someone sounded like Derek.

Their sessions had been going well. The next time they met, Paul had simply sat quietly, until Derek had begun talking about how frustrated he was with the hockey team this season. Paul let him vent, and after he was done, he left. There had been no mention of Casey for the past three days, and Paul figured he'd give him a little more time to see that Paul really was on his side, and then bring her up again. No sense getting him defensive again so soon. In the meantime, Derek would talk about hockey, his family (minus mentions of Casey, of course), and sometimes, school. Paul was happy to see Derek opening up to him. He could only hope that soon he'd be ready to open up about the most important thing.

Paul closed the freezer and snuck to the kitchen door. He could just make out Derek and Casey standing by a group of lockers, talking. It looked like they were making a bet of some sort, which didn't surprise Paul in the least. He did wonder where their parents had gone, though.

He inched the door open, and Derek's voice filled the hall.

"Sorry, _Case_, but I have this one in the bag. There's no way your mom finishes her meetings before my dad."

"Hate to disappoint you, _Der_, but your discipline problems will keep him busy all night. We'll be the first ones done."

Paul rubbed his hands together with glee. _They're betting on who will be done with Parents' Night first? Good God, kids, just kissing each other now will make you much happier, I swear. _

_  
_He closed the door softly but continued to peer through the window. Casey's back was to him, but he could see them exchange a few more words, then shake hands. Casey turned to walk away, smug smile on her face. His eyes shot to Derek, who smirked, and…licked his lips.

Paul almost cried, "Whoa!" but stopped himself just in time. _Seriously, Derek? We _will _be talking about Casey at tomorrow's session. Because that is not a healthy way to look at someone who's supposed to be your sister._

Paul slid down against the door so that he was crouching, elbows on knees. He rubbed his temples in thought. This was more serious than he'd realized. Derek was _definitely_ going to crack any day.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Paul hurried back to the refreshment table, ice bucket in hand. He poured the new ice into the cooler and straightened up, expecting to find Alicia standing there.

Instead, he was looking at Alicia talking to Nora and George. _Oh, boy._

Nora was the first to notice him. "Hey, Paul, nice to see you!"

Paul somehow managed to speak. "Hello, Nora, George, lovely to see you both, as well. I see you've met my wife, Alicia?" He turned to Alicia, who raised her eyebrows at him, but he just put an arm around her shoulder and grinned at the Venturis.

George looked surprised. "Oh, this is your wife? How nice." He shook her hand, and Nora did the same.

Alicia grinned. "I decided to keep him company. Apparently he needed help handing out the finger foods." She poked him gently. "What took you so long with that ice?"

"Spilled it," Paul muttered, and turned back to Nora and George. "So, where are Derek and Casey?" At this Alicia stamped on his foot, hard, but kept a smile on her face. Paul resisted the urge to wince.

Nora looked around. "Uh, in the hall, I think. Any idea, George?"

George shook his head. "They disappeared."

"I think I saw some kids in the hall when I was getting ice. Maybe they're talking to them," Paul offered, and Nora and George just nodded.

"So, how's Alex?" Nora asked, and Paul brightened. "Great. He talks nonstop about that hockey game. He's dying to go to another." Alicia stamped on his foot again, but he ignored it.

"That's great; you should bring him by again. We can always use a bigger cheering section," George said.

"I just might," Paul agreed, and asked Alicia, "How about you, honey? Would you go to a game with us?"

Alicia shrugged. "Why not? I hear Derek's the star player; I'd be happy to check it out."

George nodded. "We're very proud of him."

"Who're you proud of? Edwin?" came a voice. Derek and Casey approached the table, and Paul noticed Alicia's eyes light up. It was Paul's turn to stamp on her foot. She instantly put on a blank smile.

But she lit up again when she saw Derek and Casey come to a stop in front of the table. He stood slightly behind her so that the front of his shoulder was touching the back of hers, and Paul noticed Alicia glance over at him quickly. _Good, so she notices it._

"Hey Paul," Casey said with a smile, seeing him.

Derek added a "Sup?"

Paul said hello to both of them and introduced Alicia. She shook both their hands eagerly.

"What are we talking about?" Casey asked. "Because you couldn't possibly have said you're proud of Derek."

Derek bumped his shoulder into hers, and she smiled slightly. Paul watched in fascination. _So they flirt in front of their parents, too, huh? Brave? Or stupid? _

He couldn't decide which.

George put a hand on Derek's other shoulder. "We were just saying what a great hockey player he is," he told Casey. "Paul might come to another game."

"I am," Derek smirked. "And don't forget it." Meanwhile, Casey looked stricken.

"You've been to Derek's hockey games?" She fixed accusing eyes on Paul, and he could feel Alicia tense beside him.

Paul eyed Casey warily. "Just one, Casey. I like to support the school, and Alex wanted to go."

She wiped the frown from her face, but continued to look perturbed.

Nora must have noticed, because she chimed in, "It was a great game for them to see. It just so happened that we were all there that night."

This didn't change Casey's attitude. It made her even more distressed. "So he met _everyone_?"

Paul wanted to hit rewind. But all he could do was say, "Yes, you have a great family, Casey." He smiled warmly at her, and she looked up at him, smiling back carefully.

"I guess I do."

Paul could tell she was still upset that he had been invading her world like that, but really, that had had nothing to do with her and Derek. He hadn't _planned_ on meeting her family.

"Well, we'd better get going," George said, looking at his watch. "Hope to see you two again soon." The adults all shook hands, and Casey gave Paul a quick smile to show she wasn't angry, but her face turned sullen again as soon as she stepped away. Derek gave her a funny look, and turned to salute Paul.

"Later, Tomato Boy." Derek gave him and Alicia a real smile before putting a hand on Casey's back to lead her from the cafeteria.

Alicia turned to Paul. "Tomato Boy?"

Paul groaned. "Don't ask. It's his way of asserting power over me, reminding me to stay in my place."

"You got all that out of a stupid nickname?"

"Don't even try to understand our relationship, honey," Paul said, trying not to laugh. "I told him the story of how we met, and—"

"Tomato Boy!" Alicia giggled. "I get it." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "But what I don't get? How those parents couldn't see the obvious sexual tension!"

Paul shushed her. "We'll talk about this at home, okay?"

She winked. "Sure thing, Tomato Boy." He groaned. "Hey, it was pretty funny that Casey thought you were like, cheating on her by going to Derek's game."

"She'll get over it. After a nice long rant tomorrow, I'm sure."

Alicia gave him a quick hug. "I could never do your job, babe."

"Thanks, Tomato Wife."

She gave him a sly smile as more parents came up for some food, and they both became busy once again.


	10. The Casey Talk

Okay. Deep breath, everybody. Now read the chapter, and let it out when you're done. Just kidding. But please tell me what you think; honestly I just can't seem to get this chapter where I want it.

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own Derek, or Paul, or anything in this chapter.

**Life with Paul: The Casey Talk **

"It's time, Derek," Paul said seriously, as Derek entered his office the next morning.

"Time to…?"

"To talk about her again."

"Oh, Sally? Yeah, we broke up. It wasn't working."

"You know that's not who I meant, but let's talk about that for a second. You broke up with Sally?" Paul was taken aback.

"We just kind of…burned out."

"Uh-huh. So who ended it?"

"I did, of course. _I _don't get dumped."

"It wouldn't be a bad thing if you did, though."

"Paul, I dumped her. Can we move on?"

"Sure. How is it working with her now that you're no longer a couple?"

"It could be worse. We're…civil."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

Paul and Derek both remained quiet for awhile, until Paul finally folded his hands together on the desk and pursed his lips. "Come on, Derek. Just talk to me about her."

"Why should I? It's not going to help me at all. And these sessions are about _helping _me, are they not?"

"Of course." He waited for Derek to say something else, but the boy was stubbornly staring at the clock. "Try me, Derek."

Derek sighed dramatically. "She ate out of my cereal bowl again this morning."

Despite the theatrics, Paul could tell Derek was warming to the idea of talking about her. "What did you do?" he asked, trying not to appear too eager. One false move and he would lose Derek completely.

"I made some comment, and she shoved a spoonful of her cereal in my mouth."

"And then?"

"I spit it back into the bowl, and we ended up wrestling over the spoon."

"Mm. Was anyone else around?"

"Edwin and Lizzie."

"How did they react?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what did they do when you started fighting?"

Derek shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention to them."

"Uh-huh." Paul grinned.

"Wipe that smile off your face, Paul, I know what you're thinking," he replied, expression accusatory.

Paul obliged, but decided he'd better ask or he'd never know. "What _am_ I thinking?"

Derek was obviously reluctant to answer; he squirmed a bit in the chair, but finally said, "You think that all _I_ think about is Casey. That I'm in love with her." His face paled as he realized what he'd said, and it took all of Paul's willpower to keep his own face impassive.

Paul steeled himself for the answer to his next question. "Are you in love with her?" _No sense beating around the bush anymore. _

"I can't answer that, Paul." Derek was the quietest he had ever been. He looked a little…lost.

"You can't, because you aren't sure if you are, or you can't, because you don't want me to know?" Paul unfolded his hands and placed them in his lap, to hide the fact that he was beginning to tremble. _I'm so close to cracking him._

"It doesn't matter what I say, because you're going to believe what you want anyway," Derek fired back, his composure returning, and with it, his attitude.

Paul frowned, contemplating the best way to answer that. "You know, Derek, I'm going to tell you why I believe you love her, and you're going to tell me if this is a fair judgment, okay?"

Derek swallowed, eyes darting away from Paul and towards the door, as though he was checking his escape route. He refocused his attention on Paul, and scratched his head nervously. "Okay. Shoot."

"Just about every time you walk into my office voluntarily, it's with a Casey-related problem or issue, which shows me that you think about her often. You pull pranks on her and tease her, which is classic kindergarten psychology when a boy likes a girl." Paul put up a hand when he saw Derek about to protest. "I'm not saying you're acting like a kindergartener. I'm saying that maybe it's the only way for you to express your feelings, because of the unfortunate situation of you two being stepsiblings. I think you've stifled your feelings for her because you think it's wrong to feel that way about your stepsister." He paused. "With me so far?"

Derek nodded, looking interested and panicked at the same time. But he let Paul continue.

"I see the way you look at her. It's the same way my wife looks at me, and like your dad looks at Nora. And you don't mean to show it, but your body language displays how you feel, too. Last night, when you two stood next to each other, you were touching shoulders. Again, classic textbook psychology. You want to be close to her, so you find any excuse to touch her." Paul paused again, gauging Derek's reaction. He was staring at his lap. Paul had almost been expecting him to get angry and make a scene, but Derek looked very small and upset and not himself. Paul figured he'd better stop.

"That's enough for now. I could go on, but I think we both need a break." He rubbed his eyes and looked back at Derek, who got up slowly and faced Paul.

"I looked it up. It's not incest, because we're not related by blood."

"Correct." Paul was impressed.

"But it's just…how could that work, Paul? She thinks of me as her annoying stepbrother. I'm not…I mean, she's not…I'm not good enough for her." He said the last part very quietly, and Paul's heart broke for him.

"That's not true, Derek. You know that's not true. You're going to have to work out these issues for yourself before you tell her how you feel, but I think that you have nothing to worry about. You might not always use your head, but your heart's in the right place. You're a good man, Derek Venturi."

Derek smiled down at him, and took a seat again, obviously agreeing to stay a little longer. "I can't tell her anything, Paul."

"You're right."

"I am?"

"Yes, not yet. I want you to be completely confident in yourself, before I tell you that it's okay to spring this on Casey. Because it might come as a shock."

"So…you don't think that she feels the same way?" His face fell.

"I can't tell you how she feels."

Derek's eyebrows knitted together. "There you go again. Tell it to me straight. Do you know how she feels about me?"

Paul shook his head. "No. I only have my own observations."

"Do you _think _she feels the same?" Derek eyed him hopefully, and Paul knew he had to tell him the truth. He owed him that much.

"I think she might have feelings for you. But she may not realize it."

"How can she not realize it?"

"Same way you didn't when you started getting jealous over Sam and Casey dating when we first met. And how about all those times you looked at her and thought about what could have been if you two weren't related by marriage? Were you aware then that your feelings went any deeper than physical attraction?"

Derek's mouth was hanging open, and he shut it quickly. "No, I guess not."

"Mind if I ask when you realized you had real feelings for her?"

Derek shook his head. "I don't know. I can't pinpoint an exact time. But I know now that I feel…something…for her."

Paul arched an eyebrow. "Still can't say the 'L' word, huh? That's okay; this is a big enough breakthrough as it is."

Derek made a "pfft" sound. "This isn't a breakthrough. You already knew for a long time."

"But you haven't been able to talk about it until now. So that's a big deal…yes, it is." He smiled at Derek proudly.

"I guess." Derek stood up again. "Look, I need to go and think some things over."

Paul nodded emphatically. "Good idea. See you tomorrow?"

"I don't have a choice, now, do I? You know my secret." He smirked. "And you better keep it."

"Trust me, I'll keep it. I promise."

Derek nodded. "Good." And with that he left the office.

Paul grabbed a pen and began scribbling furiously in a notebook: _**HE CRACKED! **_


	11. The Girl Who Suspects

You all wrote such great reviews on the last chapter! I keep rereading them and smiling. You guys are really amazing.

I hated to do it, but I finally mentioned Paul's last name as Greeby (thanks to Cat and Jo). But I'm still putting the section dividers as PC for Paul Creepy because I like that better. So there. ;)

Also, I know Paul promised Derek secrecy, but notice he's not going to tell Alicia all the details. He's still technically keeping his word!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I really wish I owned Marti in this chapter. But I don't. Nor do I own any of the other characters.

**Life with Paul: The Girl Who Suspects**

"Hey buddy, want to go watch Derek's hockey game tonight?" Paul asked as he entered the house after work.

Alex jumped up from the living room floor, where he had been organizing his toolbox. "Heck yeah!"

"Great. Let me find your mother and see if she'd like to come, too. Where is she?"

Alex shrugged. "I think writing bills upstairs." He went back to organizing, though a big smile had spread across his face.

Paul took the steps two at a time and burst in on Alicia, who jumped at the sudden noise. "Paul!"

"Al!" Paul ran over and kissed her, then whispered, "Derek made a breakthrough today. He talked about Casey!"

"No!"

"Yes!" Paul's grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Baby, that's wonderful! I can't believe he opened up to you!" She jumped up from the desk and gave him a tight hug.

"I couldn't believe it either. So on the way home I decided I'd take Alex to the hockey game to celebrate. Want to join us?"

"You know it!" Alicia gathered up her paperwork. "Let me just put this away."

Paul bounded from the room and stopped by his office to file the good news. He really couldn't call them the Case Files anymore, now that Derek had cracked. But it was still up to him to get Casey to realize her feelings. He couldn't leave them to their own devices quite yet. Derek was still uncharacteristically self-conscious about the whole thing, and Casey was still oblivious. He'd have to fix that as soon as possible.

The three of them left for the game in high spirits. When they arrived at the rink, only Marti and George were sitting in the bleachers.

"Hi Alex! Hi Paul! Hi Lady!" Marti beamed at them as they sat down. George laughed at Marti's antics and shook Paul's hand.

Alicia wasted no time in talking to Marti. She had heard Paul's theory that she sensed the Derek-Casey connection. "Hey kiddo, I'm Alicia Greeby. You must be Marti."

"Yes I am. Lovely to meet you." She tipped the floppy hat she was wearing, and the adults laughed.

"There's Derek!" Alex piped up, pointing as the Thompson team skated onto the ice. "Go Bulldogs!" Alex yelled, and Derek, who was close to their side of the rink, looked up. He broke into a grin when he saw Alex, and waved at him.

Alex turned back to Paul, looking happy as a clam. "He waved at me, Dad!"

Paul chuckled. "I saw, buddy."

The game started and the Greebys cheered along with Marti and George. Paul and George struck up a conversation about college hockey and possible scholarships for Derek. Alex was watching the game, transfixed. Marti tugged on George's sleeve.

"Daddy, Daphne has to use the restroom, and I promised I'd go with her."

George groaned. "Didn't you go before we left the house?"

"_I_ did, but Daphne forgot, and now she has to go."

"I'll take her," Alicia piped up.

George shot her a grateful smile. "Thank you. Marti, behave yourself."

"I will. And I promise Daphne won't steal the toilet paper this time. I'll watch her carefully."

"Good girl."

Alicia stood up, "Come on, Sweetie."

"Here, give me your hat." George took Marti's hat from her head and motioned for her to follow Alicia.

The girls headed towards the ladies' room.

"Who's Daphne?" Alicia asked, figuring she already knew the answer. But this kid was full of surprises.

"She's my manifestation."

"Excuse me?" Alicia held back a giggle.

"That's what Casey said. She was doing a report and she asked me about Daphne for research."

"Oh. She wasn't researching imaginary friends, was she?"

"Yup." Marti skipped towards the restroom door and pushed it open with a swift kick.

She went directly to the sink and began checking her hair in the mirror.

Alicia came over to stand next to her. "Don't you think you ought to try to go while we're in here? I'm sure Daphne would hate to have to come in here twice if _you_ need to in a little while."

Marti shrugged. "Okay." She entered a stall, and Alicia sighed quietly. She could tell that Marti was a handful.

As Marti came back to the sink to wash her hands, Alicia pulled out a hairbrush and began running it through her hair. "So, you come to all of Derek's games?"

Marti nodded. "I'm his lucky charm."

"Aw. That's sweet." She paused. "I met Derek the other night. Casey, too. They're both really nice."

Marti reached for a paper towel, and nodded again. "Uh-huh."

"You know, they like to tease each other." Alicia bit her lip. She had to be careful what she said, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Marti looked up at her, scrunching up her nose. "You noticed too, huh? Yeah. They spend a lot of time teasing each other. But they actually like each other."

"They do?"

"Sure. I know Smerek—that's what I call Derek—doesn't really want to be mean to her."

"So why do you think he does mean things?"

Marti headed to the door. "I don't know. He likes to have her pay attention to him, I guess. That's what Lizzie said boys do."

Alicia almost snorted. She was pretty sure Lizzie hadn't meant for that information to get out.

"And Casey doesn't want to be mean to him either. She pretends to hate him, but I know she wants to hug him."

"She does?"

"Sure. She tries to sometimes, but Derek doesn't let her."

"So…they've never hugged?"

"Nope. Not really. I think Derek's scared to hug her." Marti exited the bathroom. "Come on, Daphne." She looked up at Alicia. "Come on, Alicia!"

Alicia shut the door behind them and shook her head. Man, this girl was cool.

"Why would Derek be afraid to hug her?"

Marti skipped back towards their seats, obviously done with the conversation. "He just doesn't want to."

"Oh." Alicia knew enough to stop talking then. She'd heard plenty, anyway.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

After the game, they met up with Derek and Sam by the locker room. Paul was getting a horrible sense of déjà vu, but Derek only smiled at him and did an elaborate high-five with Alex.

Paul could have sworn Sam gave him a weird look, but he shook it off.

As they left, calling goodbye to everyone, Alicia put her arm around Paul. "Can't wait to talk to you later," she whispered, as Alex strutted ahead of them, obviously feeling on top of the world.

"Oh, really?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Derek and Casey news?"

"Oh, yeah. Big time," Alicia couldn't hide her grin. "Let's just say Casey keeps trying to hug Derek, and he won't have it."

"Interesting," Paul whispered back. "But it'll have to wait—" He raised his voice. "Who wants ice cream?"

"Me!" Alex and Alicia both cried as they approached the car.

Alex climbed in and said, "Thanks, Dad. I think I want to play hockey next year."

Paul turned to Alicia and crossed his eyes at her; she swatted his arm.

"Sounds like a fine idea, Sweetheart." She tossed Alex a glucose meter from the glove compartment. "Test!"

Alicia put an arm on Paul's thigh as he pulled out of the parking space. "Derek Groupie," she mouthed to him, and he rolled his eyes.

In the next breath he eyed Alex in the rearview mirror. "Well? How's the sugar?"

Alex tossed the meter to his mother and stared hard at Paul. "Normal enough for ice cream!"

"Sounds good to me," Paul said, and they stopped at the closest ice cream parlor to cap off a perfectly nice night.


	12. The Covert Operation

This chapter's full of diabetes-related terminology. Right before my brother got his pump, my parents and I each got to wear a fake one for the day to see what it would be like for him. Let me tell you, it was kind of freaky, but I forgot it was even in me after awhile. The hardest part was putting the tubing into my stomach myself. It feels like a hole puncher going into your skin. And my brother has to do that to himself every three days. It sucks, but it's better than having shots every few hours. So yeah, this is a diabetes-heavy chapter, so it might be a little boring. But I really felt like I needed to write it. Hope you like!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: Uh-uh. Not mine.

**Life with Paul: The Covert Operation **

Paul was in the middle of wrestling with his overflowing file cabinet, when he heard a soft knock at the door. "Come in!" He was hoping it was Bob coming to talk about Derek's progress, because he'd told the principal yesterday in passing that Derek was calming down quite a bit.

"Hi, Paul. Mind if we talk?"

Paul didn't recognize the voice, and he turned to see who it was. "Sam?!" His mouth dropped open, and he quickly closed it. "How nice to see you! Sit down, sit down!" He went over to his own chair as Sam took a seat, looking very uncomfortable.

"So…I get the feeling you're surprised that I'm here."

"What makes you say that?"

They exchanged a smile.

Sam continued, "Derek told me what you guys talked about yesterday."

"Did he? Well, out with it." Paul was planning on his usual 'I can't talk to you about other students' speech, but the heck with it. Sam had sought _him_ out; apparently they both wanted answers.

Sam looked sheepish, but he continued. "There's no sense in pretending anymore. You know how he feels, I know how he feels, and Derek knows how he feels. I just wanted to come, well, ask for your help, really. Derek is so stubborn. You know he's not going to make a move without help. Casey's the only girl who would ever turn him down, and he knows it. He pretends to be this player, but you and I both know he'd commit if it was with the right girl."

Paul took a deep breath. _Wow_. "How long have you known about his feelings?"

"Oh, forever. I figured he might like her when Casey and I started going out, which made me kind of annoyed, but then after we broke up, my head was clearer, and it was so obvious. We never talked about it until yesterday. It was a sort of silent understanding that I knew he liked her, but that nothing could ever happen."

"And you think that now maybe something could happen?"

"Derek's getting worse. He doesn't even pay attention to other girls anymore. When he does it's for show in front of Ralph and the guys. He liked Sally, sure, but knew it was just a fling, something to keep his mind off Casey. You talked to him about that, right?"

"A little. I'm really glad he stopped leading her on."

Sam cocked an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "Anyway, I just think that he'd be a lot happier if he at least _tried_ to make her see him as boyfriend material."

"So, you want me to help get Casey on board?"

"Basically, yeah."

"And you're sure Casey feels the same way about him as he does about her?" Paul had to ask; make sure they were on the same page.

"Of course. But honestly, Paul, the girl is so clueless. I don't think she realizes what she feels for him. She still thinks _Max_ was the best boyfriend ever—that shows you how skewed her thinking is."

_Ha._ So he wasn't the only one who despised that jerk. _But wait a minute_…"Sam, you're leaving yourself out of the equation, here. Are you sure you're okay with helping Derek get together with your ex-girlfriend?"

Sam raised an eyebrow again. "Of course. Casey's fantastic, and we're friends. But trust me, she was _not _a fantastic girlfriend. For me, I mean. Derek can handle her. I never knew what was going on in her head."

"No one knows what goes on in her head," Paul chuckled, and he and Sam shared another smile. "But as long as there's no resentment…"

"None at all." He stood up. "I'm not sure yet how we're going to work on Casey, but your job is to make sure Derek stays focused on the fact that he _does_ have a chance with her. And of course, talk to Casey if you can. But don't be too obvious."

"Me, obvious?" Paul tried not to smile.

"You're the one who yelled at Derek in the middle of Smelly Nelly's!" Sam's voice was stern, but he was smiling.

"Casey told you that, didn't she?" _I swear, I will never live that down._

"Of course. But I knew there was more to it, and Derek filled in the blanks. But Casey still has no idea what you were really doing there."

"Good, let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"Definitely. This is a top secret operation. I _might _have to get Emily involved, if it comes to that, but besides her, no one else can know."

"Right. I won't say a word. Though I think you can add Marti, Lizzie, and Edwin to the list of people who know about Derek's feelings."

"Nah, they only have their suspicions. I have it straight from the source." Sam winked at him. "Be seeing you!" And he left the office.

Paul was very quickly realizing that his obsession with Derek and Casey was getting to a whole new level.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Alicia was on the phone with their diabetes supply distributor when Paul got home. He could tell because her nose was scrunched up and her hand was absently picking at the lint on her sweatpants as she talked.

He came over and sat down beside her, resting his head on her shoulder so he could hear the conversation. She rolled her eyes at him. "Lisa," she mouthed, referring to the girl that usually handled their shipments. It's not that the company did a terrible job, or that she was rude…it was just so time consuming and stressful to have to sit there reconfirming what their insurance would cover, and what amounts of each supply Alex would need.

Alicia was put on hold while Lisa looked something up, and she turned to Paul. "Sweetie, Alex needs a new pump set. He just got home, so I think he's getting changed. Set it up for him?"

"Sure." He kissed her cheek and headed to the closet where they kept all of the diabetes-related paraphernalia. He carried the supplies to the kitchen counter and laid out the insulin vial that would go in the pump, the needle, and the little machine that inserted the pump tubing into Alex's skin.

Alex ambled downstairs and made a face of disgust when he saw what his father was doing. "Can't we wait until dinnertime?"

"We could, but I'll be helping your mother make dinner, so you'll have to do it yourself." Paul smiled at Alex, who sighed.

"Okay. Fine." He sat at the counter, spinning in the stool as Paul set up the needle in the insertion tube.

"Come on, Alex, you gotta work with me here. Take out the old tubing, please." It was one of those days when Alex just didn't feel like dealing with the fact that he had diabetes. Paul desperately wished he could give him a day off now and then, but diabetes management was a full-time job.

Alex reluctantly peeled off the adhesive that was keeping the tubing in his stomach, and he winced as he pulled the tubing out slowly. "I think I want to put my set in my left side today; this area's pretty bruised."

Paul glanced at it and saw he was right. "Okay, grab onto some fat and let's let 'er rip!" He put the fresh insulin vial into the pump and pulled the new tubing out so that it would have lots of room to give as he inserted it.

Alex rolled his eyes at his father's lameness, but obediently found a nice patch of skin and swabbed it with an alcohol wipe. Paul pressed the inserter to his skin and pressed the release button. The needle punctured the skin and released the tubing into him, and Paul quickly pressed down on the adhesive covering the tubing so that it would stay in place.

"Thanks, Dad," Alex said as he pulled his shirt down and hopped off the stool, clipping his pump back into his pocket. He darted back upstairs, and Paul wandered to the living room, where Alicia had finally finished on the phone.

"Hey, sweetie," she greeted, stretching as she put the phone down and stood up. "How was your day?"

"Good. Sam came to see me. He wants my help pushing them in the right direction."

Alicia raised an eyebrow. "Which means what exactly?" Paul avoided her eyes, but she was not going to fall for any stretches of the truth. "Paul!"

"Just to keep talking to them, help them see how they feel." He shrugged. "That's really Sam's only plan, for now."

"Okay," she sighed, grinning. "You and Sam have fun."

"Yeah, yeah. How was _your_ day?"

"Exhausting. Back rub?"

"Be my guest!" He pretended to lie on the couch, and she just gave him a dirty look. "Okay, okay, not in the mood for jokes today, I guess. Come here, honey." He rubbed her shoulders and gave her a hug. "Let's see what I can do."


	13. The One Step Forward, One Step Back

Sorry it took so long to update- this week has been crazy, and next week isn't shaping up to be any better, so the updates might be a lot slower than usual. Anyway…

Very short, but necessary chapter. In Chapter 12, Derek was supposed to come see Paul, and I ended up bringing Sam in and forgetting that…and then I sent Paul home…silly me. Oh, well. And I know some of you are getting very antsy for some Dasey, and I promise, it's coming!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I don't own the character of Paul. Though I should thank the person who created him.

**Life with Paul: The One Step Forward, One Step Back**

The next morning, Derek entered his office looking happier than he had since Paul had known him. He couldn't stop grinning.

"Nice to see you, Derek. I'm sorry I missed your session yesterday. Important meeting," he explained, and couldn't help but smile himself at Derek's elated expression.

Derek waved a hand dismissively. "No big deal. I talked to Sam about…you know."

"Really?" Paul leaned forward, reminding himself that he had to pretend Sam had never come in.

"Yeah. I always knew he had his suspicions about my feelings, but we talked it over for real, and he's cool with it."

"That's wonderful! Do you think you're almost ready to talk to Casey?"

"No."

"Oh. Well let's discuss that, shall we? Do you really think you're not good enough for Casey?" Paul folded his hands and leaned back again, wondering how much Derek would divulge.

Derek ran his hands through his hair nervously. "Sometimes. I look at her grades, and my grades, and how she's always helping people, and…I don't know. It just seems like her type of guy is more sophisticated."

"Derek," Paul was trying extremely hard not to laugh. "Sam is a good guy, but he's not exactly what I'd call sophisticated. And Max…" he trailed off, but his face said it all, and Derek smirked.

"Yeah, but she broke up with both of them. I don't know if I could take it if she…ya know, broke up with me." He winced at the confession.

Paul sighed. "Yes, but you'd be willing to put in the time necessary to make a relationship work. You two already understand each other much better than any other guy has understood her. You know what makes her tick. And you challenge each other. That's what's going to keep you both interested."

"I guess." Derek was starting to slowly come down after his joyful entrance. Paul wanted to see him happy again.

"Derek, do me a favor. Picture your life in ten years."

He brightened at that. "Casey and I are married, with a couple of kids, living in a nice house."

"And are you working?"

"Sure. I'm a professional hockey player."

"Sounds nice." _I love that 'Casey' was the first word out of his mouth._

"Yeah."

"Derek, you can't just kidnap Casey and carry her off to be your wife. This isn't Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

Derek gave him a weird look. "Whatever that means."

"That means that before you can have the nice house, kids, job, et cetera, you have to actually tell Casey how you feel. She's not just going to wake up one morning and decide to marry you."

"Okay, whoa." He held up his hands. "We need to back up a little. I'm not talking about getting married just yet."

"But you've thought about marrying Casey?"

He smiled again. "Of course."

"Well, look at that…Derek Venturi, a romantic? Who knew?" Paul rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"Shut up," Derek replied. "If this gets out…"

"No worries, Derek. I won't tell anyone what a softie you really are!"

"Stop it!" Derek couldn't help but show the hint of a smile through his scowl.

"So…" Paul decided to go for broke. "Do you love her?"

Derek took a deep breath. "Yeah. I do." His face was white.

"Say it."

"I love Casey."

_I think my heart just stopped for a second._ "There you go, Derek, I knew you could—" But Paul couldn't finish, because Derek was already throwing up in his trash can.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Paul stopped by Principal Lassiter's office on his way home that day.

"Hey, Bob?" he called, knocking on the doorframe, since the door was open.

Principal Lassiter looked up from his desk. "Well, hello there. What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you that my sessions with Derek have been great. But I really think that to make sure he stays, uh, focused, he should keep seeing me." Paul fidgeted a bit, hoping Bob wouldn't notice.

"Sure, sounds fine. Whatever you think, Paul. As long as he's out of my hair." Principal Lassiter waved a dismissive hand and went back to reading whatever paperwork he had on his desk.

"Okay, great. Thanks!" Paul darted away without waiting for a response, and entered the hallway, which was mostly deserted. Until he rounded the corner and walked straight into Noel Covington.

"Whoops! I'm so sorry, Noel." Paul bent down to help him pick up the books he had dropped, and Noel gave him a funny look.

"Do we know each other?"

"Oh, sorry. I recognized you from the musical. I'm Paul Greeby." Both straightened up and Paul extended a hand. Noel shook it.

"Nice to meet you. Hey, are you the same Paul that talks to Casey? I mean, you're her guidance counselor, right?"

"That's me." Paul resisted an eyeroll. So apparently kids were identifying him by his relationship to Casey now. _Great._

"I'm going to meet her now, actually. We're studying together at Smelly Nelly's," Noel said.

"How nice. Have fun."

"Thanks! See you around."

"See you." Paul grimaced as soon as Noel walked away. _A study date? At Smelly Nelly's, which was really not all that conducive to studying? Not good. _Their window of opportunity was growing smaller every time Casey and Noel got together. Because Paul could already tell that Noel definitely had a thing for Casey, even though Casey had said he was just a friend.


	14. The Derek Talk

Here's the Derek Talk. It doesn't dig quite as deeply as the Casey Talk, but Paul gets Casey thinking, anyway!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I don't own Casey, Paul, Life with Derek, or The Sandlot.

**Life with Paul: The Derek Talk**

"Good morning, Paul," Casey greeted as she stepped into his office.

"Hey, Casey, great to see you." Paul smiled, genuinely happy to see her. He felt like it'd been forever since they'd talked. "Still enjoying your independence?"

"Completely. I spent two hours yesterday working on my poetry column for the paper. I'm really excited to get back into it."

"Wonderful!"

"Thanks." She was sitting in her usual chair now, but she squirmed a bit, as if she were afraid to say what was on her mind.

"Well, out with it," Paul gestured for her to keep speaking.

She immediately relaxed. "Okay, Paul, this is going to sound…I feel…I don't know, I just, I can't believe you and Derek are so…chummy."

_Chummy? Heh, if she only knew._ "Oh, Casey, my going to Derek's games does not make us 'chummy.' Alex enjoys hockey, and it's a nice family outing." _All true_, he reminded himself.

"But I'm pretty sure he's been in here to talk to you. And you went to see him at Smelly Nelly's!"

_Ah, so she's still suspicious about that? It just _kills_ her when Derek has a secret._ "I was having a snack, and Derek happened to be there, Casey." _Again, the truth._ "And I'm a _guidance counselor_. Any students can talk to me if they wish."

Casey was picking at her jeans now. "I guess."

"Come on, Casey, cheer up. Is it such a bad thing that Derek knows who I am?"

"I guess not. And I suppose he doesn't hate you anymore? He did seem friendly to you at Parents' Night."

"Well, we're fine now. He forgave me for Smelly Nelly's."

"So you _did_ yell at him!"

_Oops._ "No, no. Casey, please. Be reasonable. Why don't you tell me more of what's going on in _your_ life?"

"Okay," she paused so she could roll her eyes for dramatic effect. "I am so mad at Derek right now." Her expression darkened.

Paul wanted to bang his head against the wall. One-Track-Mind Casey was here today. He sighed. "I thought we were talking about _you_. But what's going on with Derek?"

"He's just being such a jerk lately. He put honey on my locker last week, tried to steal my cereal the other day, and this morning he set my alarm five minutes later so he could get in the shower first, when he knows it's my turn."

_Oh, the horror of waking up five minutes late. _"Were you late to school, Casey?"

"Of course not."

"Then why bother getting worked up about it? He does these things to get your attention, you know."

"That is so…juvenile."

Paul was tempted to shake her by the shoulders. _Apparently she missed the bit about '_your_ attention.' _

"Well, why do you think he likes to pull pranks on you?" He would attempt another approach. Get _her_ to say what she needed to realize.

"Because he's an immature jerk."

"No, I really don't think he is. You've told me about a lot of good things he's done. How about when he called your father back from the airport so he could spend more time with you? Or when he was the first one to visit you in the hospital after your appendectomy? Or how about when he was the one who insisted you get your life back after you realized your relationship with Max was changing you? Or—"

"Okay, Paul, okay. I get it!" Casey was staring at him, wide-eyed.

_That's right Casey, I could go on and on. Thank goodness I keep those Case Files, so I can remember all the stuff you tell me._

"Do you think maybe he teases you and pranks you because he likes to get your attention? And don't you like that he pays attention to you, even if sometimes it's in a negative way?" _She's either going to realize what I'm doing, or stay oblivious. Please, Casey, use your head on this one!_

"Sure, who doesn't like attention? But when it's from _Derek_?" She said his name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth. "I'd rather he left me alone."

_You're killing me, Smalls._ "Caseyyy, I know you don't hate him, so drop the act. And I hate to say it, but it seems to me that you two are getting closer. In fact, do you think it's fair to say that you're becoming…friends?"

Casey was staring at him in disbelief again. He knew she was wondering what had gotten into him today. But Paul was a man on a mission. Sam was depending on him.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh." Paul sighed. "But tell me the truth…do you consider him a friend?"

"I guess…I guess I do." Casey looked down at her lap and a small smile formed on her face. "We do have some good times, even though he can still be annoying."

"I think it's time you started tuning in to Derek a little more. The next time he pulls a prank or teases you, think about why he might be doing it."

Casey looked thoughtful. "You know, the other day I had just gotten my hair trimmed, and I thought it looked really good. But I came home, and no one noticed it had even changed…except for Derek. He said it looked stupid. But no one else even saw a difference."

Paul was seriously tempted to break into a Hallelujah chorus. "Casey, he's observant. Of course he noticed. From what you've told me, he always makes it a point to know what's going on in your life. And think about this. Derek _had_ to insult you—if he hadn't, and said it looked nice, what would you have done? Probably brushed him off, right, not believing him? I think he probably liked your hair, but the only way he could comment on it was to say it looked stupid, so youwould at least acknowledge that he noticed." Paul let out a breath he had no idea he'd been holding.

"I…I never thought of it that way." She sat quietly for a moment, and Paul let her reflect. "I think I'm going to try giving him a real compliment. See what he does. Because you're right, I would have brushed him off, or thought he was kidding."

"Maybe you'll break the cycle, and you two can start being nice to each other, without feeling like you'd be ruining whatever it is you two have."

"Yeah." Casey got up and began pacing the office. This usually meant she was upset, but Paul could tell that right now, she was just deep in thought. "I would love it if we were nicer to each other. And we are, sometimes. But it would be good if we started acting like actual friends. And then maybe the pranks would stop. But I don't think we could ever really stop fighting completely. It's kind of…fun, in a weird way."

Paul just let her ramble, smiling to himself. But then he heard her calling his name.

"What? Sorry, Casey."

"I _said_, is it weird that I like to fight with him?"

_Oh, boy. Do I risk explaining unresolved sexual tension? Nah, too soon for that._ "No, I don't think so. It gives you a rush, right? It makes you feel…" he trailed off, hoping she'd fill in the blank.

He wasn't disappointed. "It makes me feel…alive." She paused, looking wistful. "That is so cliché!" She rubbed her hand on the back of her head in frustration, and Paul was excited to see that she was mimicking how Derek did that when _he_ was upset.

"It's okay, Casey. Being cliché isn't a bad thing. Why don't you try to tell me in one sentence how you feel about Derek?" He needed to gauge where she was; she was talking like she had feelings for him, but he still doubted she realized it.

Casey stopped pacing and sat down again. "I really like being around him, but at the same time he drives me crazy, but I don't always mind that he drives me crazy, because when we're together and not fighting, we have a great time, and at the same time I feel like I could trust him with my life, because I know he cares about me, even though he pretends he doesn't, and I guess I care about him." She finished and looked at him expectantly.

"That's a long sentence." Paul smiled. "So you're saying that even though he annoys you, you really do enjoy his company. And how do you know _he_ cares about _you_?"

"Because I know he'd never let anything happen to me. He can be mean sometimes, but I can always count on him when things are really bad. He'd never intentionally hurt me."

_Wow._ "I agree one hundred percent. Even though he doesn't always use his head, Derek's heart is in the right place." Paul was echoing what he had said to Derek, but Casey needed to hear it, too.

"Paul, I think I've had enough for today. You're making me dizzy." Casey stood up and collected her things. "Thanks for listening."

Paul nodded. "Of course. See you later, then."

She left his office and Paul let out a long breath. _He_ made _her_ dizzy? _Wow, that's ironic_.

"I need a donut," Paul said to no one in particular, and headed off to the teachers' lounge.


	15. The Grub Stops Here

Somewhat of a filler chapter, but I like doing these flashbacks. This one's from Grade Point: Average. It's just chock full of Paul-is-onto-the-Dasey love, and I just had to work it in. The next chapter will have more Derek/Casey interaction, I promise. For now, rewatch the Paul GP:A scene, and then read this chapter!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I don't own LwD or the episode I transcribe herein.

**Life with Paul: The Grub Stops Here**

Paul returned to his office, clutching a Boston Crème and a cup of coffee. He put his feet up on the desk, and bit into his donut. He couldn't get Casey's words out of his mind. She had said that when things were bad, Derek was there for her. But she really hadn't had all that many crises, had she?

_Well_, he thought wryly, _a split-end is a crisis to Casey_.

There was the appendicitis, but her mom had been the one to take her to the hospital. There was the time she mixed up a project due date and Derek tried to help her get out of trouble. And the whole debacle with the math exam earlier this year…

Paul put down his donut and rubbed his chin. She really didn't have any reason to say that. Was it just that she _felt _safe around him? That in the event of a real emergency, he wouldn't let her down?

He thought for a few minutes, trying to remember a time when she may have really been in trouble. But the only thing that kept jumping into his head was the time she was teased for being a grade-grubber. He didn't quite remember why this had stuck in his memory, but then he realized it was because it had been another Derek-related meeting about something that had nothing to do with Derek. Surprise, surprise.

_Casey came right into his office and started complaining. "This is a _disaster_, Paul! Everyone thinks I'm a grade-grubber." She looked livid. _

_Paul made the mistake of trying to calm her down. "You mean like those annoying kids who are always begging for every mark?" he chuckled. Casey would never be that lame._

_He wiped the smile off his face when he saw her expression. "I'm sure you're not…" he added quickly._

"_Oh, but I am," she replied matter-of-factly. "And who knew it was such a big deal? You know, at my private school, grade-grubbing was socially acceptable." Paul nodded doubtfully. "Even encouraged!"_

"_Really?" Yeah, I don't believe that for a second, Paul thought._

_Casey knew she wasn't fooling him. "No…but I was popular there."_

_Paul frowned. "And you're not popular here?" Why does she care?_

"_Here? _Derek's_ popular." She said his name in that infuriating way she had of making him sound like pond scum. Oh! A light bulb went on in Paul's head. _Of course_ this would go back to Derek. Because what popular guy would ever fall for a grade-grubber? Oh, Casey. You do realize you really had no reason to mention Derek today? I mean, I know you like to talk about him, but…_

_Casey was still talking. Paul refocused his attention on her. "Sometimes I wish I could be like him. Slack my way through school, not care about my grades." She was looking awfully forlorn._

_Paul frowned again, surprised. "Really?"_

_She shrugged. "No, not really." She paused, a little sigh escaping her lips, and Paul wondered if maybe she did want to be like Derek in some ways. "But I'm still the new kid in school. I don't want people thinking I'm a loser."_

_Paul felt guilty for not being more sympathetic. She was right—it was tough to be new. Sometimes he forgot, because he felt like they'd known each other forever. He had to make this right. Find some way to help her. Unfortunately, his best advice would not be the easiest to hear._

"_You know, this reminds me of an old computer science joke." He paused, but she didn't say anything. "Lemme tell you about it. So this guy, he calls tech support, and he says, 'Tech support, tech support, my computer keeps crashing every single time I hit enter. What should I do?' So tech support says, 'Stop hitting enter.'" Paul smiled automatically; he rather liked that joke. But Casey was still skeptical._

_She did her best to smile back. "Hm. That's the funniest computer science joke I've ever heard, but…that relates to me, how?"_

_He should have known not to go all Geek Squad on her. She needed directness. "Well, maybe your problem can be solved that simply." He shook his head. "Stop the grubbing."_

_Casey mulled this over, and he could see that she might actually listen to him for once. "Stop the grubbing." She looked unsure._

"_Mm-hm."_

"_Not bad. But, maybe I can do more." She got a faraway look in her eyes that scared Paul a little. "Unless…I do less."_

_Paul did not like how excited she looked. Please let her not do something stupid! He smiled at her as best he could, and she bounced out of the room with a quick "Thanks!"_

Paul finished chewing the last bite of his donut and grinned. Her plan had failed, and Derek had ended up being a knight in shining armor of sorts when he had stopped the grade-grubbing insults. But of course, this was only after she had helped him get a 90 on their English project, by grubbing one more time.

When she had told Paul this, he couldn't stop smiling as she gushed. It was great that they were working together so well. _And _Casey had given up her ridiculous plan to become a slacker, in order to help Derek pass the class. _If that's not love, what is?_ he thought, only half kidding. Not to mention the fact that they had dressed as Percy and Mary Shelley, who just happened to be a married couple, for their project. This amused Paul a little too much.

He just had to find a way to get _Casey_ to realize that Derek was the Percy to her Mary.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Paul got home late that day; the faculty meeting had seemed to drag on forever, and by the time he left Thompson, it was almost dinnertime. He had called Alicia to see if it would be okay to pick up a pizza.

His mouth was watering as he quickly set out plates, while Alicia and Alex grabbed drinks and seasonings. They finally sat down all together, and Alex began filling his parents in on his day. During a lull in the conversation, Paul had a sudden inspiration. Maybe his family would appreciate a good joke.

"So this guy's having computer problems, right, so he calls tech support…"


	16. The Crazy Plan

You guys have been so patient in waiting for the Dasey, that I figured it was time for more Derek/Casey interaction. Hope you like!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything I mention. Because as much as I love Derek and Casey, they're really stupid sometimes.

**Life with Paul: The Crazy Plan **

Paul was in the main office, checking his mailbox, when Lois, the secretary, asked him for a favor.

"Sure, what is it?" Paul figured she needed computer help.

"We need another chaperone for the dance tomorrow. I know it's short notice, but it turns out Kathy Zeldin can't make it."

"Um…" Paul wasn't big on chaperoning events. He found it stressful. "Would Alicia be able to come?"

Lois shrugged. "I don't see why not. We need all the help we can get."

"Well, that's fine, then. We'll be there."

"Oh, thank you!" Lois smiled brightly at Paul, which was a rare occurrence, and went back to work.

Paul left the office wondering, _What did I get myself into?_

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Paul headed through the hallway just as the first bell was about to ring. He had called Alicia, and she had been excited to help out at the dance. It made him feel a little better about the whole thing.

He spotted Sam closing his locker and waved as he turned around. "Sam!" he said as quietly as possible. "My office!"

Sam nodded, and began to discreetly follow Paul. Paul had just been hit with a sudden inspiration, and luckily Sam was around so he could share it.

When the door was closed behind them, Sam was quick to ask, "Did you talk to Casey?"

"Yes, I did. And I think she's definitely seeing Derek in a better light, though I'm not sure yet exactly how she feels."

Sam shrugged. "It's a start. I tried to talk to her yesterday, but she had to run off to meet Noel, so…"

Sam and Paul made the same disgusted face at the same time, and laughed.

Paul remembered why he had called Sam over in the first place. "Oh! Sam, I had an idea. I'll be chaperoning the dance tomorrow night. Do you know if Derek and Casey are going?"

"I'm sure Casey is, but I don't know about Derek. Why?"

"I thought maybe we could convince them to dance together somehow."

Sam looked skeptical. "And how do you think we can do that?"

Paul shrugged. "I thought maybe we could do the old switcheroo- you dance with Casey, he can dance with Emily, and then…"

Sam's eyes lit up. "It's so crazy it just might work!"

"My thoughts exactly."

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Paul had sent Sam off to class with a note excusing his lateness, and was trying to get some paperwork done, when Casey came bursting through the door.

"Paul! Help!" She threw herself into a chair, and Paul's head shot up from his paperwork, alarmed.

"What's wrong, Casey?" He eyed her warily. She didn't look hurt, and she wasn't crying, so it couldn't be anything too serious, right?

"Paul, I'm so stupid. I hugged Derek." She let out a shaky breath.

_Okay, what?_ "Why don't you tell me what happened?" Paul folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward, trying to put himself in Casey's place. Given what Alicia had said, a hug between them was a big deal.

"I was helping him study for this big test we had, and we got our grades back this morning. He was so proud of himself, and I went over to see what was going on. He got a 95. I was so excited for him. I don't really remember all of it because it happened too fast, but I think I jumped up and down and hugged him, and he pushed me away and I hit a row of lockers, and his eyes got big and he helped me up, but then he ran away!" Her breathing was becoming ragged and her eyes were tearing up: she was getting hysterical.

"Casey, please calm down, okay? Here." He handed her a brown paper bag he kept in his desk, and she began inhaling and exhaling into it slowly.

Finally, she calmed down enough to speak. "I can't help it Paul. Why would he get so upset?"

"Casey, did he hurt you?" Paul knew Derek would never intentionally harm her, but he had to make sure she was okay.

"No, of course not. I was just surprised." She put down the paper bag and smoothed down her hair.

"Do you think maybe _Derek_ was surprised? Do you think that's why he pushed you away?" Paul figured that wasn't the only reason he'd freaked out, but he'd have to wait for Derek to find out the truth.

"I guess. But what's the big deal? It was just a hug!" Casey huffed, looking indignant.

"Can you think of any reasons why it would be a big deal?" Paul unfolded his hands and placed them behind his head, leaning back in his chair.

Casey sighed. "I don't know. Except…"

"Except?" Paul wrinkled his forehead. "Go on."

Casey shrugged. "Well, it's just that he never wants to hug me. I've tried a few times, but he won't let me. And I guess I made him angry." She looked upset at this idea, and Paul was quick to reassure her.

"Casey, I really doubt that he was angry. How did he look when he helped you up?"

"He looked…confused." She scrunched up her nose. "I don't know why a hug would confuse him, though."

Paul just barely kept himself from groaning. "So tell me more about the times you tried to hug him." He figured if he got her talking about that, he wouldn't have to respond to her previous statement.

"Well, the first time was after he helped me see what a loser Scott was. Remember him?" Paul nodded. "I told Derek he was a good guy, and tried to hug him. But he and Edwin inched away from me on the couch. They were like, scared of me trying to have a feel-good family moment."

Paul scratched his head, thinking. _Hmm._ He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Luckily, Casey kept talking.

"And I also tried to hug him on his birthday, after I planned that surprise party for him. But he just shook my hand instead."

Something occurred to Paul. "Casey…were people around every time you tried to hug him?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess so. Why?"

Paul was more and more confused now. _Did Derek just not want to hug her in front of other people? Or did he not want to hug her at all? And why not? Did he not want a 'feel-good family moment'? Or did he think a hug was too personal? _He was definitely going to have a talk with Derek about this.

"Why, Paul?" she asked again.

"Oh. Um, maybe he's just not comfortable displaying emotion in public."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Of course he isn't. He's _Derek_. But he hugs the rest of my family. Everybody but me. Would it have killed him to hug me back today?"

_Okay, so Derek wasn't completely against hugging. He just didn't want to hug the girl he loved. Well, that makes sense. Not._

Paul sighed. "You just can't force Derek to do things he doesn't want to do. Why don't you try apologizing for startling him with your hug, and see what he says?" It was the best Paul could come up with, given the circumstances.

Casey looked uncertain. "Well, okay. It's worth a try." She stood up to leave, and Paul smiled at her.

"See you later, Casey."

"Bye, Paul."

After she left, Paul quickly called the secretary, to have Derek paged to his office.


	17. The Hugging Incident

One of my favorite LwD themes is the no-hugging policy Derek has towards Casey. There is no clear cut reason, and I like a lot of the theories out there. This is just one alternative- I tried to sort of compress the theories into one that makes sense for this fic. Who knows what Canon Derek is REALLY thinking? Only time will tell.

--Brandi

Disclaimer: Not mine. My sorrow over this prevents me from elaborating.

**Life with Paul: The Hugging Incident **

Derek trudged into Paul's office, looking downtrodden. Paul was shocked at how subdued he was. He sat calmly, and refused to look at Paul when he said, "Let me have it."

Paul rubbed his forehead and then placed his hands on the desk calmly. "Derek." He paused, to see if Derek would say something, but it looked like it was up to Paul. "Okay. I don't really know what you want me to say, here. I'm not going to reprimand you."

Derek shook his head. "I know. But you think I'm an idiot."

Paul sighed. "No, I most certainly do not. Why don't you tell me what happened, in your own words?" He leaned back, and watched carefully as Derek did the same.

"Uh…Casey was happy for me, so she hugged me. And I freaked out and pushed her away."

Paul raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

Derek groaned. "Of course that's not it. I knocked her backwards into a row of lockers, and it was probably the worst moment of my life. I thought for a second there that I really hurt her, when I saw her face. But when I helped her up, she started to smile, so I ran away."

Paul was so tempted to tell Derek what Casey had said about him looking 'confused,' but knew he couldn't. So he concentrated on Derek's words instead. "She smiled?"

"Not a real smile. I think she was just letting me know she was okay, but I still felt horrible about it." Derek hung his head.

Paul sighed. "First of all, stop beating yourself up. Casey's not angry with you. And she's fine. Secondly, I'm sure no one even noticed. It seems like it happened quickly."

Derek's eyes widened as he lifted his head. "I didn't even think of that! People were watching!"

Paul shrugged. "So what?"

"So what?!" He paused to compose himself. "No one gossips about _me_, I am Derek Venturi, after all. But about the two of us? Everyone knows we argue; how's it going to look now that I got violent?"

"Trust me, no one will be talking about that. It's the hugging part that will have people whispering."

Paul clapped his hand over his mouth. He really hadn't meant to say that. That was way out of line, even for him.

Derek stood up, towering over Paul's desk, eyes flashing. "And that means, what, exactly?"

Paul stood as well. He hated to turn this into a confrontation, but he needed to reassert his authority. "Sit down, Derek." Derek obliged, and Paul returned to his seat as well. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I highly doubt people will gossip. But we have to get to the root of the problem. Why is hugging Casey such an issue for you?"

Derek accepted Paul's apology with a nod, and said quietly, "It's complicated."

"And the rest of your relationship isn't?" Paul said with a smile.

Luckily, Derek returned it. "Okay. I'll try to explain it. A hug is just so…official, you know? I've never been able to hug her. I can put my arm around her, touch her face, all that stuff. But an actual hug is so scary. It's like I'm admitting how much I care about her."

"Let me ask you this: would you hug her if no one else was around?"

Derek squirmed in his seat. "Probably not. Because to her, a hug isn't as big a deal. She just wants to have her 'feel-good family moment,' and she doesn't realize that a hug from me would mean so much more than that." He stood up and began pacing—tracing the path Casey usually took around the office, without realizing it. Paul had to bite back a laugh.

"So for you, a hug would be an admission of your feelings? Once you tell her how you feel, you'll be able to hug her?" He was still a little confused about why Derek had such a problem with this, but at least they were making progress.

"I think so. I don't know." He paused and stopped pacing, coming to a stop in front of the desk. "I wasn't ready this morning, though. She caught me off guard, and I panicked. That was stupid."

"What if you went home today, apologized, and gave her a real hug? Could you do it?"

Derek paled at the thought. "I don't think so. What if she wondered where it came from, and what if she'd expect some sort of declaration of my feelings…" he trailed off, upset.

"Derek, you just said that you and Casey have very different views about what a hug between you could mean. So why not give it a try?"

"I'm just not ready, okay?" He picked up his bag and headed out of the office. "One day, Paul. But I just can't tell her how I feel yet."

"When do you think you _will_ be ready?" Paul thought it might be sooner than he gave himself credit for. He certainly felt guilty enough about pushing Casey away this morning.

"I don't know. I have to do some thinking," Derek replied, saluting as he left the room.

Paul just smiled and wrote some notes down to file away later.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

The rest of that day and the next passed without incident; Paul heard nothing more about hugs, so he assumed Derek and Casey hadn't talked at home. Before he knew it, he and Alicia were getting ready for the dance. Understandably, they were both nervous.

"What if they figure out it was your idea to set them up?" Alicia asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Baby, please relax. This is going to be all on Sam's shoulders. Everything's going to be fine." Paul wished he could believe it himself.

Alicia shrugged. "Okay, but tonight will definitely be interesting."

They arrived at the cafeteria, where the dance was being held, and met up with a few of the other chaperones to exchange pleasantries. But while the other volunteers were busy watching _all_ of the students who were filing into the dance, Paul and Alicia were keeping their eyes out for two in particular.

Sam entered with Derek and Ralph, and Paul breathed a huge sigh of relief. One down, one to go. They didn't notice Alicia and Paul standing by the refreshment table, but Paul figured that was just as well. He could always pull Sam aside later if necessary.

Emily entered with Sheldon, and Paul felt like he should go introduce himself, but refrained.

"I know you want to go say hi to them," Alicia whispered, "But it's probably best we lay low for awhile."

"My thoughts exactly," Paul agreed, smiling at his wife. She was the best partner-in-crime anyone could ask for.

And then Casey came in. With Noel. _No!_ Paul groaned inwardly.

They said hello to Emily and Sheldon and then began dancing.

"She told me they were just friends," Paul moaned to Alicia, who shushed him.

"I'm sure they are," she insisted.

"No, no, you don't understand. I only met the kid once, but I could tell he likes Casey."

"And does Casey like him?"

"She said she doesn't."

"So there you are. Stop worrying." Alicia grabbed his hand. "Let's dance for a bit; we can keep a better eye on things that way."

Paul made sure to keep both Casey and Derek in sight as they danced. Derek was leaning against the wall talking to Ralph, and Sam was chatting up a pretty blonde girl. Paul resisted the urge to go over and remind him to keep his head in the game, but then realized how ridiculous it would sound. If things didn't go well at this one dance, there'd be others, right? He was getting too excited over nothing.

A few minutes later, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, and Sam whispered, "It's go time!" and then scurried off before anyone saw the two of them talking. Paul and Alicia exchanged sly smiles, and headed back towards the refreshments, where they would have a clear view of the action.

Paul saw Emily kiss Sheldon on the cheek and weave her way through the crowd towards Derek. And on the other side of the room, Sam was making his way over to Casey. Paul took a deep breath, and Alicia squeezed his hand.

"Whatever happens, it's for the best, right?" Alicia asked, and Paul nodded.


	18. The Old Switcheroo

I'm trying to keep this as canon-related as possible, with the exception of Sheldon. We're just going to overlook that egregious error made by the producers and pretend that he never had to move. I think everyone's happier that way.

Oh, and I feel like this needs to be said- I love Noel. I really want him to date Casey for awhile. In canon there is no way Derek and Casey are ready to be together, so I think Noel will be a nice fit for her in Season 4. But in this fic, he's just a guy in the way. :)

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Shemily, and Sam. I'd give them so much more to do on the show than they do now. But alas, I own nothing.

**Life with Paul: The Old Switcheroo **

Paul and Alicia watched as Emily persuaded Derek to dance, and Sam politely asked Noel if he could cut in. They breathed sighs of relief as both agreed.

It was so subtle, Paul thought, that you'd only notice if you were looking. But it was clear to _him_ that Emily and Sam were moving their dancing partners closer and closer together across the floor. He glanced to Noel and noticed with excitement that Sheldon had pulled him aside to talk. Sheldon was gesturing animatedly, obviously trying to keep Noel from noticing Casey. Casey had complained profusely about the kid, but Paul decided he was definitely cool for doing this.

Suddenly, the two couples were dancing so close, that it was a miracle they hadn't noticed each other yet. Paul could just make out Sam giving Emily a wink, and before Derek or Casey knew what had hit them, their dance partners broke contact, and began dancing with each other.

Paul's hand found Alicia's again as they watched Derek and Casey, who were facing each other awkwardly. Sam said something to Derek, and finally, Derek held out his hands. The shock on Casey's face was clear as day, but miraculously, she held out her own hands. Paul felt like he was watching a slow motion replay of something as their hands inched towards each other.

Finally, finally, their hands met. Casey's right hand slid up around Derek's neck, and he shakily placed a hand on her waist. Their other hands were still intertwined, and they stood like that for a few moments, as if forgetting there was music playing. Sam and Emily, who were still dancing nearby, both said something else, and as if it had jolted them awake, Derek and Casey began moving to the slow beat.

"Eek!" Alicia said quietly, and Paul grinned at her.

"Let's see how long they last," Paul said, and he set the stopwatch on his watch.

Sam and Emily started to dance a little further away, to give them some space. At the two-minute mark, Casey brought her head to rest on Derek's shoulder, and Alicia laughed out loud at the expression on Derek's face.

At three minutes and five seconds, they stopped dancing and Casey lifted her head to stare directly at Derek. At three minutes and fourteen seconds, he brushed a strand of hair from her face, and kept his hand at the side of her cheek. At three minutes and eighteen seconds, she leaned closer.

Alicia was crushing Paul's hand now. "Honey!" he hissed, and she let go sheepishly.

"I think they're going to ki—" she began, but before she could get out the last syllable, the whole operation went down in flames.

It happened so quickly that they could barely keep up. Derek leaned towards Casey at the exact moment Noel came out of nowhere and lightly pulled on Casey's arm. Alicia and Paul couldn't make out what he said, but it was obviously something about cutting in. Casey and Derek pulled apart quickly, and Paul and Alicia could see their beet-red faces all the way across the room. Derek darted away as quickly as possible, and Casey, reluctantly, it seemed, started dancing with Noel, though she kept a pretty big distance between their bodies. Sheldon came running up, panicked, and when he saw that he was too late, he hung his head. Emily and Sam came out of the crowd to pull him away quickly, and Paul could no longer see them as they dragged him across the room.

"So close!" Alicia cried, and Paul just shook his head in disappointment.

Derek flew by them towards the cafeteria doors, and Paul was about to go after him when he saw Casey flee from Noel towards the restrooms.

"Which one do you want?" Alicia asked, and Paul pointed to the doors Derek had just exited. They split up, Paul following Derek out the door, and Alicia heading towards the ladies' room.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Alicia found Casey dabbing at her eyes with a paper towel.

"Oh, sweetie," she said, coming over to hand Casey a tissue.

"You're…Paul's wife?" Casey asked, and Alicia remembered that they'd only met once, even though she felt like she knew Casey pretty well.

"Yes. Alicia." She stuck out a hand, and Casey shook it, though she continued to dab at her eyes with the tissue. "Here," Alicia said, digging in her bag for some mascara. "Go ahead and get cleaned up. We can reapply in a second."

Casey nodded gratefully and splashed some water on her face. She used another paper towel to dry off, and took the mascara from Alicia with a "Thank you."

Alicia watched as Casey applied the makeup; she wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't very well let on that she knew anything about her. Finally, she settled on, "I saw what happened out there. You want to talk about it?"

Casey stopped mid-brushstroke and looked at Alicia warily. "What did you see?"

Alicia decided honesty was the best policy. "Well, I saw you dancing with Derek, and you two looked pretty cozy. And then you were running in here."

Casey sighed. "Noel interrupted us. I guess I just needed to get away."

"Noel?" Alicia put on a blank look.

"Oh. My date. We're really just friends, but we've been hanging out a lot lately and…" Tears were welling up in her eyes again, and she blinked rapidly, trying to control them.

"Do you like Noel?" Alicia patted her shoulder encouragingly.

"That's just it. I don't think I do. But he's…safe."

_Huh_, Alicia thought. _So she can't admit she likes Derek because he's the _dangerous_ choice?_

Casey continued, "How well do you know Derek?"

Alicia was taken aback by that question. "I…uh, well, I know him from going to a hockey game, and from Parents' Night. That's it."

"Oh." Casey's face fell.

"You were hoping I'd be able to tell you how he feels about you?"

Casey fiddled with the mascara, still in her hands. "I guess. I mean, I know he talks to Paul, I just know it. But Paul won't tell me anything."

"And you thought I would know more than Paul?" Alicia laughed.

"No. I don't know. I'm so confused."

"I understand. Here's what you need to do. You need to go out there and talk to Noel. If you want to be with him, tell him. If you just want to be friends, tell him. Mixed signals don't do anyone any good. And then you need to decide how you feel about Derek."

Casey eyed Alicia with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you two dancing out there. And I saw the way you acted at Parents' Night. Hon, if that's not attraction, I don't know what is."

Casey's mouth fell open.

Alicia continued, "I understand that a relationship with Derek would be really complicated. But you have to decide for yourself: is it worth it?"

"I…wait." Casey suddenly became annoyed, and Alicia backed up. "How dare you try to tell me how I feel! You don't even know me! I'm sorry Alicia, but I don't like Derek like that. He's my stepbrother, and that's it."

Alicia bristled. "You're right, I don't know you. But it's pretty obvious to me that he is _not_ just your stepbrother. And maybe it's not my place, but my husband cares about you, so I was just trying to help. Unless you'd rather stand here and cry alone." Alicia held out her hand for the mascara, but Casey continued to clutch it tightly in her fist.

"I'm sorry. Look, I don't want to fight with you." Casey paused. "Is it true? That Paul cares about me?"

"Of course. Why else do you think he sent me in here? He saw you crying, and thought you might need some help." Alicia was stretching the truth a little; it had been her idea, but it was certainly true that Paul cared for Casey.

"Oh." Casey turned back to the mirror and quickly finished with the mascara. She handed it back to Alicia. "Thanks. I think you're right; I'm going to go talk to Noel now."

"And Derek?" Alicia couldn't resist asking.

Casey shook her head. "No. I can't talk to Derek. I'll just have to get over this silly little crush. I mean, we would never work. He doesn't even like me like that."

Alicia was completely tempted to smack her upside the head. _Stupid, stupid Casey. He was about to _kiss _you, you idiot. _All she said was, "Alright. But I wouldn't give up on Derek just yet." She exited the bathroom quickly, without giving Casey the chance to say anything else. She hoped Paul was faring better with Derek. But at least she knew now that Casey had a 'crush' on Derek. That was definitely a good thing.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Derek was heading towards the parking lot when Paul caught up to him.

"Derek, wait. I need to talk to you."

"Why? You saw what happened, I'm sure. There's nothing to talk about." Derek kept going and Paul had to jog to keep up. He finally got into stride with him and grabbed Derek's shoulders, spinning him around to face him.

"Nothing?! Nothing!? Derek, she almost kissed you!" Paul felt like he was sixteen again, talking to one of his buddies. He quickly reminded himself that he and Derek were not 'buddies.' He had to remain in control.

Derek blanched. "Not now, Paul, okay? I want to go home."

"Why? Why can't you go back in there and finish what she started?"

Derek stopped in his tracks and hung his head. "Can I tell you something? Can you keep a secret?"

Paul gave him a hard look. "You know I can." He led Derek back towards the school, and they sat side-by-side on the curb.

Derek began fiddling with the hem on his shirt, and he refused to look at Paul. "That moment…when we were so close…it was the scariest moment of my life. It sounds stupid, but I'm scared." He finally looked up into Paul's eyes, and Paul was smiling at him kindly.

"It's okay that you're scared, Derek. I don't blame you. Do you think you can elaborate?"

"What if she decides she likes Noel better? What if it doesn't work out? What if I can't handle being her boyfriend? What if our parents disapprove? What if—"

"Derek, what did you just say as the start to every one of your questions?" Paul interrupted. He knew Derek's doubts, and some of them were legitimate. But Casey was supposed to be the worrywart, not Derek. Derek was Mr. Cool.

"Um, what if."

"Mm-hm. They're all hypothetical questions. That's not like you to be so unsure of yourself. Do you think you'd be able to just take things one day at a time for now?"

"I guess. I can't give up that easily, can I?" Derek was starting to smile, gaining some of his confidence back.

"No, you can't. And you won't. Because you're Derek Venturi." Paul smiled back, and patted his shoulder. "Even if any of your fears turn out to be true, you and Casey can face them together, right? You're stronger when you work together."

"That's true."

Just then, the door banged open behind them and Sam was trotting towards them. "Hey guys, mind if I join you?" He reached the curb and sat on Derek's other side, face full of concern.

"He's all yours, Sam. I think he needs to talk to a friend, not some old guidance counselor." Paul stood up.

Sam nodded. "Thanks, Paul. You okay, D?"

Derek glanced at Paul and gave him a small smile before he turned to Sam. "Yeah, I think so. Actually, I think I'm almost ready to tell Casey how I feel about her."

"Good," Paul chimed in. "Next time we'll make sure Noel is nowhere near you two while you dance."

He headed back towards the school, grinning to himself while ignoring Derek's calls of "Wait, you were in on that little stunt?!"

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Alicia and Paul met up by the punch bowl to exchange progress reports. Paul was ecstatic to hear that Casey had admitted her crush. It wasn't quite 'I love Derek,' but, it was a start. He'd work on her on Monday. Meanwhile Derek and Casey had the whole weekend to either talk to each other, or pretend nothing had happened. Paul was really hoping it would be the former, but he had a feeling they would have to think things over for a while. That way, they'd come in on Monday saying they were ready for some action.

He could only hope.


	19. The Real Derek Talk

The new LwD Season 4 promo (go watch it NOW on youtube if you haven't!) has DEREK TALKING TO PAUL. DEREK! TALKING! TO! PAUL!

As you can see, this makes me way, way, way too happy. That is all.

Oh, oops, that is not all. One more thing: there are only two chapters left after this one…the story's winding down. Can you believe it?

DEREK. PAUL. SEASON 4. SQUEE!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I love Casey dearly, I really do, but I'd never want to own her character. Too much drama. Too much responsibility.

**Life with Paul: The Real Derek Talk **

When Casey came into his office on Monday morning, Paul could tell that she had had a horrible weekend. She looked exhausted, and worried, and worst of all, like she hadn't said a word to Derek. Sure enough…

"Paul, I ignored Derek all weekend. I can't believe I did that. But I just couldn't face him!" She sat in her usual chair and began wringing her hands. "I know Alicia must have told you what happened…did she?"

Paul nodded. He could sense that he wasn't going to get much talking done today, so he didn't even attempt to start.

"I mean, it's a crush, Paul. A stupid little crush. I mean, I have a _crush_ on Orlando Bloom. I have a _crush_ on Daniel Clark. But that's just because they're good-looking. Every girl has crushes like that. Right?"

"Mm."

"So, okay, I think Derek's good-looking. And I sort of think about him a lot. Okay, all the time. And when I broke up with Max, I realized that he's always been there for me. He always knows how I'm feeling. And no other guy has been able to understand me like he does." She was up and pacing now, and Paul could tell she was very close to a freak-out. He quietly slipped the paper bag from his desk, just in case.

"And Noel is great, but we just don't, I don't know, click, I guess. Is that the word? Alicia said my attraction to Derek was obvious. And I talked to Emily this weekend about what happened at the dance, and she said she'd been able to tell for awhile now that I like him."

Paul's eyes lit up. "Casey, you just went from a crush to full-out liking Derek. Which is it?"

Casey stopped pacing, deer-in-headlights look on her face. "I…guess I like him. Why shouldn't I? Just because he's my stepbrother? We're only going to be living in the same house for another year, anyway. Why shouldn't anything happen?!"

Paul was about to interject a supportive murmur when she abruptly sat down. "Oh my God, Paul, what am I _saying_? I can't be with _Derek_! He could never feel that way about me. I'm not his type."

Paul groaned aloud, causing Casey to give him a questioning look. "Casey, I was there. I saw you two dancing. Do you seriously not realize what happened out there?"

Casey stood up again. Paul was already getting dizzy.

"You're right. You're so right. I almost _kissed_ him. I almost kissed _Derek_. And he was about to kiss me, wasn't he? Oh, God. Oh, God." She began fanning herself and Paul quickly held out the paper bag. She took it and began to breathe into it slowly.

"Casey, let's take a step back, here. Remember when I asked you to describe how you feel about Derek? You gave me a run-on sentence. Do you think you can give me a three-word sentence?" Paul's breath caught in his throat as he finished talking. It was definitely now or never.

Casey removed the bag from her face. She cleared her throat, and looked down at her shoes. She began twisting the bag around and around in her hands. "Meaning?"

Paul had a feeling she knew exactly what he meant, but he knew he'd better be gentle. "Okay, Casey, complete this sentence: I 'blank' Derek." His eyes bored into hers and she stopped twisting the bag.

"I love Derek." She said it so quietly that Paul was afraid he hadn't heard her correctly. But then she said it again, louder. "Paul, I love him! I'm in love with Derek! How did this happen? Oh my God." She put the bag back up to her mouth, and Paul could see tears welling up in her eyes.

Sure enough, a few seconds later she began sobbing, paper bag forgotten. Paul sat calmly, letting her cry herself out of tears. He wanted to hug her, but didn't feel like it was a good idea—he'd overstepped so many boundaries already.

Finally, she hiccupped a few times and dried her eyes with a tissue. "This is so stupid. I've spent too much time crying over him, and we're not even together."

Paul sighed. "You know Casey, it's okay to be confused about this. But you're just going to become more and more upset if you let your feelings for Derek interfere with your common sense. Can you tell me what you think the right thing to do here is?"

"I don't _know_." She was getting whiny; that was one thing he never had to put up with when he talked to Derek. Paul sighed again.

"Try Casey, okay?"

"I guess…the right thing to do is to talk to Derek?"

"Is that a question or a statement?" He was not going to make this easy on her. She usually benefited more from tough love.

"A statement. I need to tell Derek how I feel."

"That seems like a fine idea." _Understatement of the year_, he thought.

"But I _can't_," she whined. "It would go badly, I just know it. I mean, look at what happened when we almost kissed—he ran away! And when I try to hug him, he goes nuts. How am I supposed to talk to him about this?"

"That's something you need to figure out, I guess." Paul said firmly.

"Pa-aul! Come on!"

"Casey, you have to find a way. If you love him like you say you do, you'll talk to him." Paul felt badly that he was being so harsh, but he had to get her to stop wallowing and start taking action. The best way he could think of to get her mind off her self-pity was to stop catering to her.

"I…don't think I'm ready to do that just yet." Casey looked down at her feet.

_Are you kidding me? You've got to be kidding! Between you, and Derek, it's going to take you until your parents' fiftieth anniversary to get together._

Paul took a pencil from his desk and began playing with it.

"Paul?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"Mm?"

"Uh…aren't you going to say something?"

Paul hid a smile. "Did you need me for anything else? Because it sounds to me like your mind's made up; you just have to work up the courage to do it."

"But…" she handed him the paper bag and continued, "Fine. I guess I'm done here." She walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Paul put down the pencil, smiling to himself. _She _loves_ him! I wasn't expecting that so quickly. It's only a matter of time, now._

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

"Paul?" Sam entered the office and motioned to someone behind him. Emily emerged in the doorway, looking a little apprehensive.

"Well, Sam, Emily, what a nice surprise!" Paul stood up and shook Emily's hand as they both took seats across from him.

"Hi, Paul. It's great to officially meet you!" she said brightly, recovering from the nerves.

"You, too. Now, what's on your minds?"

"We just wanted to talk to you about the dance," Sam spoke up, and Paul nodded.

"I see. Well, we're miles past where we were, but there is still a long way to go, I think."

"I agree. An almost-kiss is great. But it's not a real one. The problem is, they're not talking." Sam said.

"And whenever I try to bring it up, Casey freezes. We talked a little on Saturday, and she found out that I knew about her crush on him, but it's not enough," Emily added.

Paul smiled. "Ah, but wait until you hear what just happened! Casey was in here very confused and upset, and she got increasingly frustrated until she finally said it!"

"Said…?" Sam held his breath.

"She said she's in love with Derek." Paul sat back, satisfaction evident on his face.

Emily shrieked. Both Sam and Paul put their hands to their ears.

"Sorry, guys. I just can't believe it!"

Paul grinned. "I know!" They all beamed at each other.

"So do we have another plan?" Sam asked.

"I can't think of anything right now. Maybe something will come to me later." Paul scratched his chin.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, we'll keep thinking, too. Right now Sheldon is at lunch talking to Derek. He's going to try to persuade him to at least say _something_ to Casey."

"Good idea. You'll have to let me know how that goes."

"Definitely. We'd better get going, huh, Sam?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Paul." Sam and Emily left, and Paul was about to pull out his lunch, when a phone call came in from the main office. He pressed the talk button on his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Paul, it's Lois. You have a message here."

"A message?"

"Yes. We got a call asking you to do something."

Paul frowned. _What in the world could this be about?_ "What is it?"

"Apparently you need to be at Smelly Nelly's at four o'clock today. He didn't say why."

"Um, okay, thanks Lois."

"You're welcome." She hung up, and Paul spun in his chair a few times. It couldn't be Alicia; it had been a male caller. He wondered if it had something to do with Derek and Casey. Had Sam thought of something that quickly? Why wouldn't he have just come back to the office?

Paul knew one thing for sure—four o'clock couldn't come fast enough!


	20. The Parallel Investigation

Second to last chapter! I'll miss this story a lot, and I'll miss all my faithful reviewers! You guys are the best. But I'll be back again soon - I've got two new chapter fics in the works.

Thanks to argentenipinkini for one of the ideas in this chapter!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I own Alicia and Alex, but not Paul or anyone else from LwD World. One day. One day.

**Life with Paul: The Parallel Investigation**

It was 3:59 when Paul stepped into Smelly Nelly's. He took a look around, but neither Derek nor Sally was anywhere in sight. Not to mention any other males who could have called.

"Phew," he sighed, and took a seat.

He waited about thirty seconds, then began to pace back and forth. Derek and Casey were in love; they were almost ready to admit it, and here he was stuck at a restaurant. He checked his watch. 4:01.

Max Miller stepped inside the door, and Paul gasped. "You're the one who asked me here?"

"Uh, what?" Max entered the room and walked over to Paul.

Paul wanted to bang his head against the wall. _Oops._ "Nothing."

"Hey, don't I know you?" Max wasn't leaving, and Paul was about to jump out of his skin.

"Uh, uh, I don't think so," Paul stuttered, and Max gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, yeah, I do. You're Paul, Casey's shrink."

"Guidance counselor, actually," Paul said, rolling his eyes. "And you're Max, right?" _Why am I talking to this oaf?_

"Yeah. What did you mean, did I ask you here?"

"Never mind. I thought you were someone else."

Max still looked skeptical. "You here for Derek? I heard how you came in here to yell at him before."

Paul groaned. "I was _not_ yelling at him. Jeez, does the whole school know that rumor?"

Max shrugged. "Emily's always been a bit of a gossip. What were you yelling, I mean, not yelling, at Derek about?"

"It's really not something I can tell you," Paul said pointedly, hoping that he would leave.

"Was it about Casey?"

"What the…what gave you that idea?" Paul spluttered. He was going to go home in a second if this mystery caller didn't show up. He glanced at his watch. 4:04.

"I don't know. When Casey and I were together, she talked about Derek all the time. She even gave herself a 'no-Derek-talk' rule that she always broke anyway. I thought maybe Derek would do the same thing to his girlfriends about Casey."

"Wow," Paul said without thinking.

"Yeah. Pretty pathetic, huh? Those two deserve each other."

Max picked up whatever food he had ordered at the counter and started heading out the door.

"Wait," Paul called, and Max turned.

"You think Derek and Casey should be together?"

Max nodded. "The whole school thinks so. Once we broke up, it was clear as day to me."

"Uh, thanks, Max," Paul said, amazed.

Max just shrugged, and then turned around and went out the door.

_Wow. _Paul took a seat in the nearest booth, and shook his head in disbelief. "Max is pretty observant for a wax figure," he said to himself.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

At 4:07, Lizzie and Edwin came through the door, spotted Paul, and made a beeline for his booth.

"Hi, Paul," Edwin greeted, and Paul gaped at them.

"_You two_ called me here?"

Lizzie nodded. "Uh-huh. Now, we have something we'd like to discuss with you."

"Oh, really?" Paul tried to keep a straight face. _There's no way they know anything, right? Just because all of Thompson High knows…_

Edwin motioned for Lizzie to pull out a piece of paper. Paul tried to sneak a glance at its contents, but Lizzie quickly pulled it closer to her body.

"Item One," she began. "Alicia asking Marti suspicious questions about Derek and Casey."

Paul paled. _Marti had picked up on what Alicia had done? And she had told Lizzie and Edwin? Oh, boy. _

Edwin inched the paper over so that he could see it, too. "Item Two, Derek and Casey both moping around all weekend."

"Item Three," Lizzie continued, "Derek telling Edwin that he and Casey were going to work things out eventually, but not offering any other information." She looked pointedly at Paul. "These three clues lead us to believe that you have been talking to Derek."

"Should I deny it?" Paul asked, holding up his hands in defeat. "Yes, Derek has talked to me about his feelings for Casey."

Edwin's eyes lit up. "So you are trying to get them together!"

"Wait a minute, I didn't say that!" _I'm still innocent until proven guilty. _

"Ah, yes, but why else would you tell your wife to talk to Marti?"

"I didn't!"

"Okay, then explain the horrible moods they were in all weekend. We know you chaperoned the dance on Friday. Mom said so, because she offered, and they said they already had the Greebys doing it."

_Yikes. These kids are thorough._ Paul gulped. "Lizzie, Edwin, I don't know what you want from me, but you still can't prove anything."

"We're not trying to get you into any trouble. We want to help."

"You do?"

"Of course. We want to see them happy as much as you do. Besides, the house is much quieter when they're getting along."

"But what if they get together and it doesn't work out? Don't you think they'll go right back to arguing? Won't that make things worse?" Paul crossed his fingers behind his back. He _really_ didn't want that to happen.

"They won't break up," Lizzie said firmly.

Paul shrugged. "Okay, but I don't know what you're proposing to do. How are you going to help me?"

Edwin grinned. "We have a brilliant plan."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. But you have to swear to leave us out of it if you decide to use it," Lizzie cautioned.

"I swear," Paul said. "I can get Sam and Emily to take the blame. They've been helping me think of ways to get Derek and Casey together."

"Wow, that's great. Go Sam and Em!" Edwin high-fived Lizzie.

"So, what's this plan of yours?"

Edwin and Lizzie leaned forward and lowered their voices.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

"Why are you home so late, Dad?" Alex asked as Paul walked through the door.

"Hey buddy, I had a meeting after school. Sorry," he answered.

Alex shrugged. "You promised we would work on my bike today. The tires need air and my seat needs to be raised."

"And we will. In fact, go get it out of the shed. I'll be right out."

"Thanks!"

"No problem. Where's your mother?"

"Reading in the living room."

"Okay, I'll see you out there."

Alex ran outside. Paul headed into the living room to greet Alicia.

"Hey, babe," she said softly as she closed her book. Paul gave her a kiss hello, and she pulled back, grinning. "I know that look in your eye! You have another plan for Derek and Casey, don't you?"

Paul sat down next to her and took her hand. "I swear, this one was _not_ my idea. It was Lizzie and Edwin's."

"What?"

"They called the office and had the secretary tell me to meet them at Smelly Nelly's. I went there after school, and they told me they knew that I want Derek and Casey to get together."

"No!" Alicia's eyes widened and smiled. "I can't believe it. _Everyone_ knows!"

"Not everyone. I don't think George and Nora do. But I could be wrong. We'll see what they say when I meet with them."

"You're meeting with them?"

"I think I'm going to have to, after Derek and Casey finally start dating. I have some literature I found about stepsibling relationships that could be helpful."

Alicia laughed. "You just want to see their reactions!"

Paul looked away. "Uh, well, that, _and_ I want to help."

"Alright. I'll give you that. So is that all Lizzie and Edwin said?"

"No. Actually, they have a plan. And I think it might really work!"

"A plan, huh? What is it?"

"I can't tell you yet. I'll tell you tomorrow. I don't want to jinx it."

Alicia looked skeptical. "Why do I think that's code for 'I can't tell you because you won't approve'?"

Paul gave her a peck on the cheek as he stood up. "Just trust me, okay?"

"You know I do."

"Good. Now, I'm going to go help Alex with his bike, and then I have to give Sam and Emily a call and tell them about the plan."

"Do you have their numbers?"

"Not yet."

"I can look them up while you're outside," Alicia offered, standing up herself.

"Thanks. I'll be back in soon." Paul headed outside with Alex, and Alicia cracked open the phonebook.

"Please don't let them do something really stupid," she muttered, as she located the numbers and jotted them down on a slip of paper.


	21. The Locked Door

This is it, guys! It's been fun!

I want to thank MaybeBaby27 for tossing around ideas for this chapter with me. I used what you suggested- you're awesome, twin!

I also have to acknowledge a very cute story by jannikajade, called "And so I fall." It's the first Paul-centric fic I read (possibly the only other one out there!?), and I drew a little bit of the inspiration for this from it.

And to all the readers/reviewers who stuck around and went on this lovely trip into Paul's life with me: thank you! You're amazing.

And one more - Kinvalar, for being generally all-around wonderful (and for the beta).

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I own…well, nothing in this chapter.

**Life with Paul: The Locked Door**

Paul met Sam and Emily in his office before school, to go over final details. If everything went according to plan, Derek and Casey would be together by lunchtime.

Sam went off in the direction of Derek's locker; Emily went toward Casey's. And Paul sat at his desk, stomach in knots. He glanced at the clock. He had fifteen minutes before he needed to be walking by Casey's locker.

When it was time to head into the hall, he took a deep breath, and said a quick prayer that he wouldn't get fired over this. Though there was no way anyone could trace what was about to happen back to him.

He strolled down the hall, pretending to be checking out the posters on the walls. Emily and Casey came into view, standing by her locker.

"So, Sheldon came over for dinner last night," Emily was saying. "You know how much my family loves him, but my dad always—"

She was cut off by an ear-piercing shriek from Casey as she opened her locker. Smoke was pouring out of it, along with a particularly foul stench. The other occupants of the hall screeched and backed away, as Casey tried to clear the smoke by waving her arms.

Paul ducked around the nearest corner, but stuck his head around the side of it so he could still see the action.

Emily cried, "I can't believe Derek did this!" and winked in Paul's direction.

"I'm gonna _kill _him!" Casey screamed. "I mean it! Derek is _dead_!"

Paul glanced back at Emily, who was trying to murmur sympathies at Casey, while also watching the hallway.

Paul saw Principal Lassiter coming down the hall, and quickly pulled him aside.

"Bob, wait!" Paul said, but then realized he hadn't come up with an excuse to stop him.

"What is it, Paul? I heard screaming."

"Uh…it's just a little science experiment gone wrong. I'm about to go handle it. Go back to your office and relax," Paul said, a little too quickly.

Principal Lassiter gave him a doubtful look. "I guess I will. Go make sure everyone's all right." He headed back in the direction he had come, and Paul put his head in his hands.

"Too close," he muttered, and headed into the hall just in time to see Derek march up to Casey's smoking locker.

"What the hell is this, Casey?" he asked, face white with rage as he thrust a stack of papers at her.

"How should I know? You tell me why you put a stink bomb in my locker!" Casey pushed the papers back at him, and Derek dropped them to the floor.

"I didn't!" Derek cried, and pointed to the papers. "Is this your idea of a joke? Putting dozens of escort service ads in my locker? I got showered with them when I opened the door!"

"Yeah, well, I got showered with all this smoke! I think _that's_ worse! This prank is low, even for you!"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Derek bellowed, and Casey blinked, undeterred.

"Yeah, I believe that! You're a jerk!"

"Yeah, well you're a brat!"

"Slacker!"

"Keener!"

"Princess!"

"Skirt-chasing cad!"

Everyone one else in the hallway had backed up against the opposite wall, and were watching the shouting match with interest. Sam and Emily glanced at Paul, and he gave them a thumbs-up. All that pent up frustration with each other, coupled with a lack of communication for several days, was bringing the argument to a full boil; they were back in bickering mode. They needed to get this out, though, so that they could begin to be rational once Phase Two commenced.

Paul had a feeling they were about to start wrestling any second, so he took that as his cue to step in.

"Hey, Derek, Casey, knock it off!" Paul cried, rushing towards them and placing his hands on each of their shoulders.

They looked up at him angrily, and Derek said, "Back off, Paul!"

"I will not. You two are causing a disturbance. It's lucky I got here before Principal Lassiter did. My office, now." He gripped their shoulders tighter, and Casey reluctantly backed up.

"Sorry, Paul." She looked at the floor, but he saw her steal a glare at Derek, who merely shrugged, looking anywhere but at her.

"Let's go. Now!" Paul said, putting on his sternest voice.

He marched back towards his office, and Casey and Derek followed. He tried his best not to look back at them, but he could hear them both grumbling quietly.

They finally reached the door, and Paul held it open for them. "After you," he said, and watched as they shuffled into the office, sitting in the two chairs furthest away from each other. Paul stood in the doorway, watching them both fold their arms across their chests.

"What happened, you guys? Things were going so well between you two!" He suppressed a smile.

Casey spoke up. "Ask Derek. He's the one who put a stink bomb in my locker!"

"I told you, that _wasn't_ me. _You_ flooded my locker with—"

"I didn't do that! Why would I do something like that?"

"Sam said—"

"Wait, Sam told you it was me?"

"Did _Emily_ say the stink bomb was _my_ fault?"

"Okay, enough." Paul held up his hands when he realized they were getting into dangerous territory. "I think you two need to talk this out. I'll be right back; I forgot something." He closed the door as he stepped into the hallway, ignoring their protests. Quickly pulling his keys from his pocket, he locked the door. Then he locked the padlock he had paid the janitor to install that morning.

He could tell that Casey and Derek heard the click, because they both rushed over to the door and tried to unlock it. He could hear them wiggling the handle, but it just wouldn't budge.

"He must have rigged it so it can't be unlocked from the inside!"

"Why would he do that?!" Casey's shrill voice came through the thick door loud and clear, and Paul leaned against the wall, chuckling quietly.

"I think Paul's a little too sneaky for his own good," Derek was saying.

"It's not just Paul. Sam and Emily—"

Paul didn't hear the rest of Casey's words, because Sam and Emily themselves came up to the office.

"Casey's locker is all cleaned up," Emily whispered. "Can you hear what's going on?"

Paul nodded. "They're still talking pretty loudly."

Sam put an ear to the door, careful not to make a sound.

"So you think the whole dance thing was a setup?" Casey was asking.

"Of course. Hasn't Paul been badgering you about me?"

"Yeah…has he been badgering _you_?"

There was a long pause. "Yes."

"So you _have_ been seeing Paul!" Casey shrieked.

Derek groaned.

Paul whispered to Sam and Emily, "I hate to miss this, but I have to go give their absence notes to the attendance office. I'll be right back."

When he returned, it was harder to hear their conversation. They could make out snatches of it, but it wasn't really enough to tell whether they were still fighting. At least they were talking quietly to each other now.

Sam and Emily had to leave for class, so Paul sent them away reluctantly. He tried to stand close enough to the door to listen, but not so close as to attract attention from passersby.

Principal Lassiter walked by again and looked at Paul like he was crazy.

"Just stretching my legs," Paul offered, pacing a bit in front of the door, and Principal Lassiter went on his way, shaking his head.

Sam came back during his study period. They had been inside the office for over an hour.

"How long are we going to leave them in there?" Sam whispered.

Paul shrugged. "I hadn't thought that far ahead. I'm actually surprised they haven't been screaming for help yet. They know I'm the one that locked them in."

"Hmm." Sam pressed an ear to the door for a few moments. When he backed away, he said, "I just hear them talking quietly, but I can't make out words. I wish you had a better window so we could see them."

"Are you kidding? It's better that we _can't_ see them. I want them to work things out on their own, without feeling like I'm hovering."

"But you are hovering!" Sam smiled.

"Technically," Paul replied, and they both pressed their ears to the door again.

Suddenly, there were no more sounds coming from the office. Sam and Paul exchanged confused glances, and quickly pressed their faces to the window, trying to see through the fogged glass.

"I can see a dark shape, but that's about it," Sam complained.

Paul put a hand to the padlock. "Should we…?"

Sam looked from the window to the lock and back. "Let's do it!"

Paul quickly unlocked both locks, and threw open the door.

Derek and Casey were squished into one chair, engaged in a serious liplock.

Sam and Paul high-fived and shouted "Yessss!" in unison.

Derek and Casey broke apart, and both blushed furiously when they saw who had barged in. They quickly disentangled themselves and stood up.

Paul and Sam started doing an improvised victory dance as Casey and Derek stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room.

They finally stopped and turned to the happy couple. "So this is for real, huh? You two worked everything out?" Sam asked eagerly.

Derek smiled and took Casey's hand. She looked at the floor, but Paul could see that she was smiling, too.

"We _were_ going to get extremely angry at you guys, but once we realized that you really were going to keep us in here, we got to talking—"

"Because making out is _totally_ the same thing as talking," Sam cut in wryly.

"—and we decided that you were only trying to help, and for that we have to thank you," Casey finished, ignoring Sam's comment.

Paul looked at both of them anxiously. "So you're really going to give this relationship a try?"

Casey nodded. "Neither of us was very happy pretending to hate each other, and since it seems like our friends," she gave Sam a dirty look, "weren't taking no for an answer, we figured we have nothing to lose."

"Good for you," Paul agreed. "Listen, if you'd like, I'd be happy to set up a meeting between you and your parents."

Derek paled at that. "They weren't in on this plot thing, too, were they?" He asked nervously.

"No, no. But I think they'd be interested to know about such a big…event in their children's lives, don't you?"

"Yeah…" Derek looked at Casey. "That's one thing we didn't quite get a chance to discuss."

Paul cut in, "Well, you can spend the rest of the day deciding how you're going to tell them. I told the attendance office you wouldn't be in today."

Casey's mouth dropped open. "Paul! That is completely irresponsible!" She put her hands on her hips. "I can't miss the whole day!"

"Why not? You've already missed two classes, what's a few more?" He smirked. "Trust me, it's okay. Go have some fun. But I expect you both in my office at your regular times tomorrow."

Derek nodded. "Yes, sir." Casey still looked a little panicked, but she nodded.

Sam, who had been waiting patiently, spoke up, "Hey, D, let's go out to the parking lot while Paul talks to Casey for a second."

Derek shrugged. "Sure."

Casey gave Derek a hug, which he happily returned. He winked at Paul over Casey's shoulder, and Paul returned the gesture.

They pulled apart, and Derek came over to shake Paul's hand. "Thanks, Tomato Boy," he said, and Paul rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

The boys headed out of the office, leaving Paul and Casey alone.

"So," Paul began, beaming, "How are you? You okay?"

Casey answered, "Never been better, actually."

"Good. I just wanted to make sure things were squared away with Noel—"

"Don't worry, I talked to him. We're going to try to keep being friends. I told him how I feel about Derek."

"And how do you feel about Derek?" Paul teased.

Casey threw her arms outwards and did a dramatic spin. "I love him!" she yelled, as she twirled around.

Paul watched her twirl gleefully; he had never seen her look so happy since he'd known her. She just looked so…peaceful. Derek was going to be good for her, he could tell.

"Well don't keep him waiting!" Paul told her, and she stopped twirling.

"You're right. Thank you so much, Paul!" She ran over to give him a quick hug. "What would I do without you?!"

Paul hugged her back, and laughed. "You'd still complain about Derek, I'm sure."

"Oh, don't think the complaints are going to stop. If anything, they're going to get worse!"

"Can't wait," Paul replied. "Now get out there and enjoy your day off."

She practically bounced out of the office, smiling the whole way. He leaned against the doorframe and watched her leave. He half expected her to kick up her heels and skip down the hall.

But the gigantic smile on her face as she turned around to look at him was enough.


End file.
